Liam had stammered since he was a little boy. It had not troubled him too much in primary school, but at 15 he was becoming increasingly frustrated and sometimes depressed about the problem.
When Liam attended the Centre for the assessment, he described the situations when talking had become a real struggle for him. He was aware of particular letters and words being difficult and that he had developed lots of strategies to hide the problem. The academic pressures were all too clear with the increasing demands of the curriculum, which included oral presentations, discussions, debates and the impending GCSEs.
There were also anxieties about "getting a life" socially. He had friends, but meeting new people and going to parties had started to become a nightmare - all the issues and worries to do with being a teenager had become exaggerated by the stammer.
Liam attended a two-week intensive group therapy course for young adults which was held in the summer holidays. His parents came for one day to meet other parents who wanted to know more about the course and how to help.
At the beginning of the course, Liam said that he wanted to be fluent, confident and relaxed in all situations! By the end of the two weeks, Liam had learned that he had some good strategies for being more fluent in lots of situations (but that it was unrealistic to want to be perfectly fluent), that his confidence in being able to tackle situations had increased (but still needed some work) and finally that "being relaxed in all situations" was not realistic!
More importantly, Liam had benefited from making friends with other people who stammered and, through sharing ideas, problem solving and practising new skills, he felt less helpless and more control of his life. Liam knows that he can make an appointment for a top-up whenever it feels necessary.
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