A specialist in stammering at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee has no fears that the latest blockbuster film, The King’s Speech, will swamp her with extra work.
But Sally Milne, a senior speech and language therapist, wants to make clear that treatments have changed since the days of George VI and, unlike actor Colin Firth who plays the monarch with a speech impediment, stammerers will not be asked to speak with marbles in their mouths.
“He does some stuff in the film which is historically appropriate but obviously times change,” said Sally.
The specialist said modern treatment does make a difference and people with the speech problem can be helped.
Only a handful of Tayside adults with a stammer come forward for treatment each year.
That may be because child sufferers get picked up by speech and language therapists working in schools, or it may be because the instance of stammering is higher in males than females and men are less likely to come forward for healthcare of any kind.
The higher incidence of stammering in males may also be due to the part of the brain involved in speaking.
“Males tend to be more right hemisphere oriented and women are more left hemisphere oriented,” said Sally.
“The left hemisphere is involved with language. But we don’t know exactly what causes stammering.”
One theory is there are disruptions of signals to what are described as “emotional centres” and “movement centres” in the brain.One in 100 has a stammerWhen stammering occurs, messages are not getting from the brain to the muscles involved in speech.
“The theory is that one reason why stammering gets worse when people are stressed is because emotional centres will be sending off all sorts of messages and confusing the signals to the muscles,” said Sally, adding that stammering is a physical problem.
“If it was just a psychological issue we would be curing people through hypnosis or counselling, and that isn’t the case.”
Singer Gareth Gates famously stuttered his way through interviews but showed no signs of a stammer when singing on TV talent show Pop Idol.
“We use different messages from the brain to the muscles when singing,” said Sally.
“It’s a different way of processing language.”
People with a stammer can be coached in all sorts of techniques to help reduce their difficulties.
Adults are offered sessions in the evening and can achieve a dramatic turnaround in just six weeks.
An estimated 1% of the population has a stammer, which means around 4000 people in the NHS Tayside area.