Stammerers Through
University Campaign (STUC)
Claire Norman, 24, is a graduate and
founder of the UK-based Stammerers Through University Campaign. Here, she shares her
story with us.
I'm Claire Norman and I’m a 24-year-old graduate from 2014. I have
had a stammer since the age of 5, which has affected many aspects of my life;
from socialising, to participation at school and general telephone use. By the
time it came to entering university, I was increasingly concerned about the
challenges I would face. I read French Studies BA (Hons) at the University of
Warwick and felt that this was a brave decision for a stammerer, because of the
placement year abroad and the French oral segments of the course.
It was at the start of the second term of my final year, in
January 2014, that I noticed a lack of support for stammerers. I found a lack
of resources available for stammerers who are students - whereas children,
teenagers and adults who stammer could more easily find advice. I decided,
therefore, to fill this gap by creating a support campaign that would help
university students who stammer, which I believe I would have found invaluable
had it been in existence during my university studies.
The idea came to
me towards the end of my first semester during my final year at University.
Whilst studying for my finals, the stresses of preparing for my oral examination
became too dominating to handle and I started to reflect upon the (lack of)
support offered to me during my 4-year course. I decided that something had to
be done regarding the support offered to stammerers; not just during their
final year, but as soon as they start.
I thought of the
initiative and later the name; the acronym ‘STUC’ (Stammerers Through
University Campaign), pronounced ‘stuck’ – emphasises the feeling of being
trapped by having a speech impediment. After the Christmas holidays I presented
my idea to a panel at Warwick University, who then notified me the following
week that I had been successful in gaining a small grant to get the initiative
up and running. It was here that STUC was born!
I was very lucky
to have practical support also, from some Trustees of the British Stammering
Association (BSA). Since then I have been flattered by the number of emails and
messages from university students who seek my support and ask me to persuade
their university to become a partner, as well as BSA members offering their
praise.
STUC aims to
create meaningful change in university settings for anyone who stammers,
whether students or staff. We also hope to debunk stammering myths and raise
awareness of stammering more generally.
Stammerers -
whether students or staff - can attend a focus group and seminar in a
non-judgemental, supportive environment. These will be attended by a
combination of University stammerers, lecturers, researchers and anyone with an
interest in stammering. In this way, a range of personnel will be available to
discuss the issues and offer responses from different perspectives. By doing
this, the idea of bring together university students, staff and personnel who
stammer will create a group of individuals who can, as a collective, discuss
and examine issues and possible resolutions.
I work closely
with the university to organise a focus group, during which we identify areas
of concern. These are collated and revised, then used to determine what should
be discussed at a seminar to be held at the university a few months later.
Examples of issues raised in the first focus group at the University of Warwick
included:
§ What can be done to help stammerers during their introduction (e.g.
the first fortnight of their first year)
§ Ways in which awareness of stammering within the university
environment can be raised
§ How the Students' Union of the university in question can become
involved
§ How certain aspects of university life could be altered in order
to ease the impact, e.g. assessment.
§ How current university students and/or alumni have overcome/are
overcoming this obstacle.
The seminars are a
welcoming, non-judgemental, supportive environment attended by anyone with an
interest in stammering – this is a wide-ranging group including stammerers
themselves (staff, students, stakeholders, etc), lecturers, counsellors and
researchers. The hope is that by bringing together university students, staff
and people who stammer, we will create a group of individuals who can, as a
collective, discuss and examine issues and possible resolutions.
STUC currently has 9 partners (Newcastle University; Imperial
College, London; University of Kent; Leeds Trinity University; City University,
London; University of York; King’s College London; University of St. Andrews
and University
College London (with University College London Union). For more information,
contact Claire below:
Email: clairenorman@stuc-uk.org
Twitter: @STUC_UK
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