Don’t be lost for words

British cinema can be quite brilliant and The King's Speech is a glowing example. It shows the relationship between George VI, his stammer, and his maverick speech therapist, Lionel Logue.

Unusually for a film about a medical condition it gives a highly accurate portrayal of the impossible frustrations experienced by stammerers. If you don't know anyone with a stammer, then be assured that Colin Firth does an incredibly realistic job of conveying what it is like to be stuck with no control over your speech.

I rejoice when the media sensitively portray any embarrassing and misunderstood condition. It does wonders for awareness. There are about 720,000 adults and children in the UK who stammer. We now know that intervention as soon as possible after onset is the most effective route to the complete recovery of fluent speech, so people need to be aware of the condition in order to recognise and initiate treatment.

Stammering usually starts around the age of three, but due to the limited speech of younger children may not become a noticeable problem until the early teens. The film makes very clear the fact that stammering is not just a speech problem but also a problem of the negative feelings and thoughts associated with the act of speaking, and these will obviously develop over time. The terms "stammering" or "stuttering" cover a wide range of behaviours, from getting stuck on a certain word to the repetition of some sounds. Sufferers may openly fear their stammer and develop techniques to curb it, such as avoiding words they stammer on and shunning any form of public social engagement.

We don't know of a single cause of stammering but genetics clearly play a part: more men than women are affected and it can run in families.

Exhaustion, stress, excitement and fear can all make a stammer worse.

Because stammering can be different in different people, therapies need to be tailored to an individual's specific needs. Beware of anyone or anything offering a complete cure. It doesn't exist. The writers largely invented the treatment methods of the therapist in the film, and today's techniques are somewhat different but still ideally involve the guidance of a speech and language therapist.

There is much that can be done by stammerers themselves, including working out their individual triggers, learning to speak more slowly, and consciously stopping using avoidance methods that they may have developed to hide their stammer — they may actually compound the problem. If you stammer and want more help and information, then contact the British Stammering Association (

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