stammerer

He said: "Gareth is on live television being interviewed by Ant and Dec after he's performed his song - that is pressure for a recovering stammerer. When I was with the Wets I would have done anything to avoid a situation like that.

..if you're talking to a stammerer,look them in the eye, focus on what they're talking about not the stammer; don't finish their words for them, but remain calm,patient and `smilepleasantly'.

"There was this huge email campaign to 'vote the stammerer off'.

Former stammerer Stephen Hill, 27, knows only too well how hard it is to do even the simplest of everyday tasks when you have a stutter.

I was also impressed with former Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates as the one-time stammerer helped other people who wanted to get rid of their speech impediment (Stop My Stutter, BBC Three, Monday, 9pm).

The writer, who overcame a childhood stammer and has worked on the screenplay for 30 years, said that "for a stutterer, for a stammerer, to be heard is a wonderful thing."

In which case, a stammerer might be referred to a psychotherapist or counsellor to see if there's something deep that can be exposed, exorcised or healed.

It's already received a thumbs-up from 29-year-old stammerer Jonathon Bell, of Harborne, who watched a preview last month.

"As stammerer, there would be so many things that I was afraid to do which seemed so normal to other people.

THOSE who sign up are assigned to a 'graduate' - a successful recovering stammerer who can provide practical advice and emotional support.

SINGER and Dancing On Ice star Gareth Gates has told fellow stammerer Mushy - from the hit TV show Educating Yorkshire - that their high profile is helping a lot of people with speaking disorders.

Come on, if they can make an Oscar contender out of stammerer, they can surely concoct one out of a whistler?