Michael Palin Centre for Stammering
Established in 1993, the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering is a world-renowned specialist speech and language therapy centre that delivers expert assessments and individually tailored therapy to children, young people and adults who stammer.
The Centre accepts referrals from all over the UK and internationally and provides services for Islington, Camden and Newham as part of Whittington Health NHS Trust. The Centre has provided hope to thousands of these children and adults throughout the UK and further afield with their national helpline and therapy services.
The Centre’s success has arisen from close collaboration between the NHS, Action for Stammering Children and the Stuttering Foundation. The scale of the Centre’s reach and impact is only possible thanks to charitable support.
Making a difference
About Stammering
Imagine having difficulty ordering a coffee, answering the telephone, talking to your friends, and even saying your name. This is the reality of nearly 672,000 people in the UK who live with stammering. That’s 1 in 100 adults and 1 in 5 young children.
Stammering is a condition in which people have difficulty producing sounds and words, resulting in moments when they get stuck trying to say certain things or are not able to say them at all.
Children and young people who stammer frequently experience bullying and suffer from anxiety or other mental health problems because of their stammering. A survey by the British Stammering Association found that 99% of those surveyed had felt ashamed of stammering, 60% had been bullied because of it, 57% said it had impacted their schooling/career and 15% felt suicidal.
The role of the Michael Palin Centre and charitable support
All children, young people and adults who are referred to the Centre from across the UK undergo a charitably funded, comprehensive assessment at the Michael Palin Centre to identify the severity and complexity of their stammering. Many referrals are those who have additional diagnoses such as autism spectrum disorder, learning difficulties or ADHD, or mental health problems such as anxiety or depression.
Specialist assessments enable the Centre’s therapists to develop a personalised programme to meet the child’s specific needs. These specialist treatments include:
One-to-one therapy on a weekly basis
Group therapy sessions on an intensive or weekly basis
Parent and child group or individual sessions
Such highly specialised therapy is only available at the Michael Palin Centre.
On average, 250 specialist assessments are delivered each year, most of which are charitably funded. Half of these children will require individual or group therapy. The number of referrals and children attending for therapy significantly underrepresents those in need of therapy, and many miss this critical opportunity to access life-changing support when they need it most.
Because of funding and area restrictions, there is a postcode lottery in the delivery of support for people who stammer. To be able to provide treatment and therapy to those who fall outside the Centre’s catchment area, we are reliant on charitable support to ensure equal access.
Case Study: Zac
10-year-old Zac was referred to MPC by his local therapist in Wiltshire. He had a severe stammer, which was having a significant impact on his ability to communicate and on his quality of life. He said his stammering was completely getting in the way of his ability to succeed in school and to do the things he wanted to do, and he felt that it would be better not to talk at all than to talk and stammer.
With charitable funding, Zac and his mother attended a two-week intensive group therapy course. At the beginning of his therapy, Zac said that his hope was ‘to not be held back; to say what I want.’ During the course, Zac noticed that he was already making progress:
“When I’m speaking, I use more eye contact and hand gestures to show what I’m saying so the other person is more interested in what I’m saying. It makes me feel happier and other people are listening to me more. It’s okay to stammer in front of people.”
His mother said that he was more open about his stammering and talking about it more.
“I have a strong sense of real excitement for Zac’s future – it will shape the man he is going to be.”