Talking with callers who stammer

For Stammering Awareness Day, one of our members, Stamma, has written a guest blog post, sharing their advice about talking with callers who stammer.

We know that helplines and call centres provide amazing support for many people. The immediacy and connection, even intimacy, that comes from a one-to-one conversation on the phone can be a powerful force for good. But it can also cause harm if we don’t consider the needs of those who speak differently. As International Stammering Awareness Day takes place on 22 October, now seems like a good time to think of those callers and what we can do to make sure the support we provide is accessible to them.

At least one percent of adults stammer and around eight percent of children stammer for at least a while. Add those callers who might find the physical act of talking that bit more challenging for other reasons—perhaps they have Parkinson’s, or cerebral palsy, or a stroke that’s affected their speech, or maybe they’re speaking in a non-native language—and it really adds up. All those people might face particular challenges on the phone.

Getting hung up on

It’s not unusual for people who stammer to need a bit of time to get going at the start of a call. Did you know that people who stammer get hung up on ALL THE TIME? Those pauses and disfluencies are so often mistaken for ‘a bad line’, and down goes the phone. Grindingly frustrating at best and heart breaking at worst if you’ve called a helpline, waiting to speak to someone about something important and they’ve just, unwittingly, rejected you.

“I was really struggling on the phone, like the kind of block where you’re not even saying anything. The person just hung up on me.”

Details

A particular challenge for people who stammer is often saying their name or their address, or their date of birth, or the name of a specific drug or medication. Anything where there isn’t an alternative way to say it. In a recent survey, 83 percent of respondents who stammer said they had difficulty saying their name on demand compared to just six percent of people who don’t stammer.

Mockery

People who stammer are often mocked or treated poorly when they stammer.

“Things took a turn for the worse when I heard laughter at the other end. I was crushed. The humiliation was unbearable, and I hung up.”

“They asked my address, and I stuttered on the number two. The person repeated “tur tur two“, laughing at me. I’ve lived with a stutter for over 50 years, and I thought I’d left this sort of mocking long behind me.”

So, what can you do?

Here are some top tips.

Tip 1: Take a look at your processes for ‘silent calls’

What do you do when you’re not sure if there’s anyone there, or you’re wondering if it’s a poor line, or a prank call? Does it ever cross your mind that maybe, just maybe, there’s someone who stammers on the other end of the line?

Try the strategy that the Money Wellness call centre introduced and respond with, “I’m here. I’m listening”. Money Wellness found this had an instant impact on their interactions, and received spontaneous feedback from service users who stammer, talking about how good their call handlers were.

If you’re looking for something more structured, try the ‘Silent calls’ script in this guide for working with service users who stammer (see page eight of the guide).

Tip 2: Remember that specific words can be difficult

It’s completely normal for people who stammer to stammer on their name or on details like address or date of birth, so expect it. Allow space for it. If your caller wants to spell it out instead, that’s fine, too.

Tip 3: Talking with someone who stammers

Don’t feel the need to jump in and help by finishing words and sentences for the caller. We know it comes from a good place, from a desire to help, but most people who stammer DON’T find it useful. Instead, the best advice we can give you is… to wait. Let your caller speak for themselves. Listen to them. Value the stammering. This is how some people talk.

Tip 4: Watch this video and customer contact guide

To get a feel for the way different people stammer and how they navigate those moments of stammering, watch this quick 2-minute video.

For more information, support or to discuss resources on stammering for your team, don’t hesitate to contact us. See our website at www.stamma.org, email us at help@stamma.org or call our helpline on 0808 802 0002 and request a callback from our Employment Support team.