Ulster Unionist Councillor Alan Lewis has written about his experiences of being relentlessly bullied as a child at school because he has a stammer and what can be done to support children with speech difficulties.

Councillor Lewis said:

To those who know me, it’s no secret I have a stammer. As an adult I have learned to control it. I focus my thoughts and apply myself to a topic or situation with confidence in the knowledge that I am safe and within the company of equals, if not friends. 

As someone whose childhood was effectively wrecked, academically stifled and hounded by bullying, I know too well the difficulties faced by many young people who are curtailed by speech difficulties. 

More must be done to offer early intervention, focus resources, and support young people by ensuring a spotlight is shone on the causes of stammering, not just the physical manifestations of how it affects breathing, word formation and speech.

At the moment the Education Authority regard stammering as an issue to be referred to the trust who deal with it by assigning speech and language therapists. Education Authority psychologists will intervene if a child is experiencing emotional difficulties. I argue and will be lobbying for recognition that stammering is the manifestation of childhood anxiety, not the cause. 

I myself was passed off from school onto the trust, breathing techniques, reading a book slowly from front to back, going over the words again and again, pushed to breaking point, forced and encouraged to stammer in public so as I became used to people’s reactions, taught how to deal with those reactions. 

None of this addressed the actual problem and in fact, I’d argue, made it worse. From what I’ve heard of today’s methods, nothing much has changed. Emotional difficulties and anxiety is not as a result of stammering but the issues which manifest it. 

The Education Authority must recognise this in isolation and not overlook it because a child isn’t experiencing other learning difficulties. You can be effectively mute but intelligent.

As a child I can remember being laughed at in shops, unable to tell the assistant what I wanted. In school I dreaded group activities - ‘get to know you’ ice breaker games were pure torture. 

On the bus for many years I wrote down where I wanted to go. Right up until my early twenties I would have carried a pen and paper in case I needed to write down what I wanted to say. 

Worry, anxiety, gut wrenching sickness, all the feelings of built-up nervousness, as I prepared to open my mouth and attempt to speak. 

Nobody can understand or begin to imagine the absolute complete fear of failure any young child experiences when put into the situation where you are forced to speak. 

It’s easier to stay in the background, be unseen, unheard and unremarkable. This frustrates your confidence as you know you have a valid point to make, an opinion to give or part to play. Unfortunately, you are tongue-tied, unable to relay your thoughts into words so you stay silent.

Public silence manifested into private anger, as a child I took out my frustrations on my parents, picking unnecessary arguments, the displaced enjoyment of raising my voice within the home developed an unhealthy and sometimes abnormal relationship with close relatives. The normal rough and tumble of high school life played out within the family home, behind closed doors free of worry and spurred on by confidence of familiarity I was able to express myself with renewed vigour. 

None of this was normal. It was the result of childhood anxiety manifesting into the physical stammer, which has taken many years to correct. I believe by admitting this that I can speak directly to any young person reading this. Don’t be deterred, don’t be put off from achieving your goals. 

It was always my ambition to be a politician. I had a keen interest in history and politics. Last year I knocked well over 3,000 doors in this district, speaking to residents from Spa to Ballyward. I topped the poll, and have since given speeches in Newry, Downpatrick, Belfast, Washington, San Diego, Brussels and Ypres - proving that nobody is below their dreams. 

I want to use my position to lobby for improvements, support young people by ensuring that those with a stammer facing difficulties are given the help they need. Each time my granny saw an article on stammering she would cut it out of the paper and give it to me. 

If there is anyone out there who is reading this or has been given a copy by a relative, get in touch with me, I want to meet you, I want to discuss how I can help you. I understand what you are experiencing, together we can seek to change the system to ensure young people are given the very best start in life. Those who need a foot up or shoulder to lean on must be helped.

I ask the Department of Education and Education Authority not to abdicate their responsibility. It’s shocking to learn that schools must take money from their own budget to facilitate counselling. 

I am calling for direct investment in schools, full-time, dedicated, widely available mental health workers in each of the Education Authority areas, focusing on children with complex confidence and anxiety issues.

I believe these to be the direct triggers which create the physical stammer. 

Simply teaching children to mask a stammer isn't helpful, it’s like showing someone with a broken leg how to spend their life relying on crutches and walking aids. 

There must be renewed focus on understanding the causes of stammering to ensure we provide the correct help to deal with it.