"My stammer stopped me from answering the phone - now I'm doing speeches" - video Dailymotion

SWNS

Meet the man who is now delivering speeches to students after previously being unable to answer the phone because of his stammer.  John Dean, 30, struggled with a stammer for most of his childhood and teenage life and was regularly bullied for it at school.  He was unable to put his hand up in class for fear of not being able to answer the question and if he did he would be "laughed at and mocked."  His stammer also played an unwanted part in a school play when he struggled to complete his lines.  Outside of school, people often mistook John's stammer for a bad signal when he answered the phone.  John decided he needed to get help after his stammer was preventing him from answering calls from potential employers.  In 2015, he decided to join The McGuire Programme - an intensive course aimed at helping people overcome their stammer and improve their speech.  In the nine years since he joined, John has completed a number of courses and now helps support others going through the same.  He has gone on to deliver speeches at his former school - something he said he "wouldn't have dared" to do 15 years ago.

Transcript

00:00Hi. What's your name?

00:04John Ding.

00:05And where are you from, John?

00:07PLA.

00:08PLA, so you've not come too far today?

00:10No.

00:11How did you get here?

00:12I mean, dad and nana drove me here.

00:14Okay. What's your address in PLA?

00:1726 Beverley Way, PLA.

00:23And your postcode?

00:26SR8280.

00:28What do you do? Do you work?

00:30No, I have a long time out looking for work.

00:33Okay. So what sort of thing do you hope to do?

00:36Well, I'm looking for faculty work.

00:38The reason why I'm more looking for faculty work is because of my stammer, really.

00:42But the job I would really like is working in a shop, like a fish shop or any kind of shop.

00:47And the only reason why I'm not really kicking on batteries is because of my stammer.

00:51Because I stammer in front of customers and they start laughing off.

00:54I just generally struggle and they're just standing there wondering when I'm going to finish talking.

01:00Have you had any bad situations in the past where you've been speaking to a member of the public?

01:06Yeah, there's been times where someone asks us directly the place and I struggle to say where the place is.

01:14Also sometimes when I'm on a stranger on the phone or if I'm talking to someone else on the phone,

01:18I stammer too much and they don't know that I stammer.

01:20Sometimes some people don't know that I stammer, so they're just wondering what's happening when I talk.

01:26Have you had any stammer for as long as you can remember?

01:29Yeah, I'd say at least from when I was in primary school.

01:33So how did you manage during school?

01:36Well, I was a lot worse in school.

01:42I'm a lot worse than I am now.

01:45Sometimes I wouldn't talk in front of people in the classroom during lessons or anything.

01:50I wouldn't even put my hand up if I didn't answer the question.

01:53I was like a poor back teacher who wouldn't ask me a question in front of the whole class.

01:57So how does it make you feel when you stutter now?

02:01I'd say it makes me feel useless sometimes.

02:06My family moved over, but they didn't always know that I stammered.

02:10So I feel like I'm being used to it.

02:13Can I just have your name please?

02:16John Dane.

02:17Thanks for this.

02:20John Dane.

02:23Before I came on the course, I was wearing a jumper.

02:28Straight.

02:31But these past few days have taught me a lot.

02:41And I'm not scared to talk to anyone now.

02:49John Dane.

"My stammer stopped me from answering the phone - now I'm doing speeches"

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