Gareth Gates - Stop My Stutter
Living with a stammer is difficult. It's a daily uphill struggle with emotional baggage weighing you down. You can't be the person you want to be. Why? Because you have no voice. No voice = no personality + no opinion. The stammer dictates who and what you are. You end up ordering a meal or a drink you can say rather than the ones you actually want. Stammerers end up in jobs they don't care much for (i.e. sat behind a computer) to avoid having to speak to anyone. It controls you and it makes decisions for you.
Stop my Stutter looks at how five young adults try to reverse this, as they make the first few steps to trying to control it.
I've stammered all my life, and it's fair to say that my stammer has shaped my life. It's made me make some decisions that I'm sure I wouldn't have if I didn't suffer with this affliction.
I particularly liked the idea of making this documentary with a group of people who are roughly the same age as me. Young adults living with a stutter is hard work. How do they handle job interviews? What do they do when the phone rings?Ìý How do they 'chat someone up'? All these things the average person takes for granted prove to be a stammerers' biggest challenge.
This documentary shows how these 'everyday speaking situations' plague and torture these young adults, but then how a little hard work and courage can unlock a whole new life as they find a voice.
Get your tissues ready, it's emotional!
Stop My Stutter is on Monday at 9pm