A recent Channel 4 short film called “Stuttering School” featured two people who stammer. Julian and Danielle have stammered since childhood and this has affected every aspect of their lives. The documentary includes interviews with Julian and Danielle, follows their daily struggles with stammering and charts their progress as they seek help and support on a McGuire Programme intensive course.
Reaction to the film has been generally positive. The Guardian’s Tim Dowling called it an “engaging and sensitive short film” and the British Stammering Association (BSA) has recorded its appreciation for the film’s realistic and accurate portrayal of stammering, something rarely seen on television.
Nevertheless, some members of the BSA have raised concerns with what they perceive as misinformation contained in the documentary in relation to the causes and treatment of stammering. To our knowledge, Channel 4 has yet to respond. While the McGuire Programme had no editorial control over the short film and while it is not for us to defend Channel 4, we are keen to share our own views on the documentary.
The film made no direct assertions about the causes of stammering. Rather, it showed the families of Julian and Danielle speculating, with some uncertainty, that their stammers may have been caused by traumatic episodes in childhood. They were expressing, no doubt, a popular belief and they may well believe it themselves. Perhaps such anecdotes help to perpetuate a common misconception and there may have been scope to challenge this in the voiceover.
At the same time, it should be acknowledged that the film was first and foremost a ‘human interest’ feature, reflecting the experiences, preconceptions and prejudices of ‘real’ people (laypersons), and not primarily concerned with being scientifically rigorous or up to speed with current research into stammering. This would surely have been apparent to the majority of viewers.
The film showed Julian and Danielle making some therapeutic gains over the duration of the intensive course and, as is so often the case in such short documentaries, left open the question of their continuing success. Like the invisible bulk of the stammering iceberg, the bulk of any responsible stammering therapy is ongoing over the long-term. This is the very basis of the McGuire support system and is something we make abundantly clear in our literature and on our courses. But the film makers were always going to have to try to pour a gallon of material into the pint pot of around 20 minutes air time. Importantly, the film ended with the explicit caveat that relapse is possible and that Julian and Danielle, like any person who stammers in therapy, are going to have to practice their speech techniques over the long-term.
Overall, our view is that the film makers took a measured, informative and sensitive approach to the issue of stammering and did so extremely well within the narrow confines of a brief television piece. There are useful links from the Channel 4 website to the BSA and other resources where further information about stammering and its treatment can be found. We join with the BSA in applauding the bravery of Julian and Danielle and we are very pleased that the public profile of stammering has been raised by the “Stuttering School” short film.
http://www.mcguireprogramme.com/news.php?v_id=45
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