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These pages relate principally to the United Kingdom.
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| Home | Overview | Disability | Employment | Services | Education | Benefits | Business | Advice | Links | More... |
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These pages relate principally to the United Kingdom.
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This page aims to give some guidance to businesses and other service providers in relation to customers/clients who stammer. Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 places obligations on service providers in relation to disabled people, as explained elsewhere on this site. This page does not focus on the DDA, but does of course bear it in mind. The page is also intended to be of use to disability consultants and trainers. What measures are appropriate or practicable will differ between service providers, but I hope that this page will help give ideas of what can be done.
This page is not exhaustive and is not anyone's "official view" of the position. The page is likely to develop further over time and I welcome any feedback (atyrer2000@yahoo.co.uk).
General guidelines
On talking with people who stammer, please see the BSA's In conversation with a person who stammers at www.stammering.org/conversation.html. Links under "Further information" below also deal with this area.
Allow extra time - eg extend time limits
A person who stammers will often need extra time, both in face to face situations and over the phone. This needs to happen informally in individual situations, but also systems may need to be adjusted.
"It is important that service providers do not assume that the only way to make services accessible to disabled people is to make a physical alteration to their premises (such as installing a ramp or widening a doorway). Often, minor measures such as allowing more time to serve a disabled customer, will help disabled people to use a service."
Para 6.10, Revised Code of Practice - Rights of Access (pdf file on EHRC website), 2006.If staff are instructed to give each client only a certain amount of time, for example call centres, I suggest it be made clear that this does not apply to people who stammer (for example). The caller should not be hurried, and should have the time to say what he or she needs to. This may be required by the DDA. It applies whether a caller is normally told at the outset that the call can only last a certain time (eg some computer helplines), or whether the guidance to call centre staff is purely internal. Where the customer is likely to know of the time limit, it may help to tell the caller that they can have a longer time than normal if they wish.
Along the same lines, a receptionist, for example, should not be made to feel that he or she has to hurry a person who stammers (still less put the phone down on them) because another call is supposed to be answered within say three or five rings.
Remember that trying to hurry a person who stammers often makes the stammer more severe. Also you should generally not finish off words and sentences for a person who stammers.
People who stammer can also be disadvantaged by telephone answering machines which cut off after perhaps a couple of seconds of pause in speech. This may terminate the message in the middle of the person trying to say something. The same applies if the machine has a maximum message length set which is too short.
A queue behind a person who stammers is not normally justification under the DDA for failing to give the person time to communicate. There is an example in the Revised Code of Practice - see box. (More detail)
"Disabled customers with a speech impairment or a learning disability may have difficulty in explaining to a bank cashier what their service requirements are. If the cashier asks the disabled customers to go to the back of the queue so as not to delay other customers waiting to be served, this is unlikely to be justified."
Para 10.44, Revised Code of Practice - Rights of Access (pdf file on EHRC website), 2006.Some people who stammer find it particularly difficult to speak on the phone. There may be sounds you can't understand as the person struggles to speak, repetitions, prolongations, "filling-in" words like "well", "um", "you know". Or there may just be silence initially because the person is having a silent block. A person may well also insert or change words to try and help them speak - eg "Well, my address is..." rather than coming straight out with the address, which they are having difficulty saying.
It's probably best to wait and let them say what they want - recognising of course that if there is silence it is also possible that there is no one there at all! If a person is really having problems, it may seem a good idea to try and take the pressure off the person by saying something like: "That's fine, take your time". Some people will find this patronising, though others may like it.
Any customer will expect a certain level of courtesy. Many staff provide this, but sometimes staff do not. Sometimes staff are excellent, going well beyond courtesy. The worst cases where standards sometimes fall short seem to be telephone calls. In face to face situations, any failings that occur seem more likely to be in general attitude. (These comments on based on anecdote rather than research.)
Here are a few real-life examples of what can happen on phone calls:
Case study
A person who stammers rang a public helpline. The lady at the other end laughed at her as she was trying to speak. When the caller said that wasn't acceptable the lady said: "You see, you can talk perfectly well when you want to!"
The caller wrote to the helpline who responded excellently. They listened to their tape of the conversation. The lady was taken off the helpline for re-training. The helpline also contacted the BSA for information to help them build stammering into their general training courses for helpline staff.News report
From the Manchester Evening News 6/10/08: 'Fan gets apology from Setanta' (external link). The customer's speech problems there were due to cerebral palsy, but the experience is very reminiscent of what can happen with someone who stammers
- putting the phone down on the person who is stammering;
- laughing at the person who stammers. Surprisingly, this seems to happen a lot. Maybe the laughter comes from embarrassment on the part of the person listening, or maybe he/she really is laughing at the person who stammers, or there may be some other explanation. Whatever the reason, it can be extremely hurtful for the person who stammers. Staff need to be aware of this;
- when criticised for laughing at someone who was stammering, one woman on a helpline said: "Well you can speak perfectly well when you want to." As well as being rude, this is not true of a person who stammers. The operators of the helpline were alerted and reacted excellently in taking steps to train staff, trying to ensure that this kind of incident would not be repeated;
- a person stammering on the phone heard the lady at the other end say to a colleague: "I've got a right idiot here."
Make it easier for people to avoid speaking if they choose.
Consider the situations where customers need to speak, and look at possible ways to avoid their having to do so. It may not always be practicable to avoid speech, but consider the possibility.
People who stammer differ greatly. Some will have no problem talking to a member of staff, or making a phone call. Others tend to avoid speaking situations, and there is a broad spectrum inbetween. Doubtless the same applies to many people with other disabilities affecting their speech. Indeed some "non-disabled" people prefer to avoid speaking up. Giving practical alternatives to speech therefore broadens the accessibility of goods and services for various sections of the public.
Even where a non-speaking alternative is available, a person who stammers may choose to use the speaking alternative and should generally be heard, even if it takes longer.
The points below are just a few examples. Any organisation needs to look at its own individual situation to see where people need to speak and what alternatives might be available.
Give alternatives to the telephone
My Telephone page brings together DDA issues to do with the phone. Some people who stammer will avoid phone calls so far as possible. Some people who stammer will simply not access a service, or information, if all they have is a phone number, and quite a few more will think twice before doing so.
Post and fax are possible alternatives. Wherever practicable it is a good idea to include a postal address in advertisements or other literature, as well as a phone number.
Some people who stammer love email and the internet (if they have it), since they don't have to speak. Accordingly, e-commerce and emails can be an attractive alternative. It can be particularly important for people who stammer that emails are responded to (which does not always happen), as some will be unwilling or reluctant to phone to chase up an unanswered query. On websites, it is helpful to include information which customers would otherwise need to phone in for, such as shop opening times. Remember of course that not everyone has access to or knows how to use the internet.
Texting from a mobile phone is another possibility, and some police and fire services have launched emergency text services for deaf and speech impaired people.
There is no problem with phone systems which only require the caller to select options by pressing keys on the phone, provided the system allows the caller to get the result he wants. Some stammerers may possibly be put off if they do not realise beforehand that they will not have to speak.
Some people who stammer dread asking for tickets, so automated ticket machines can be useful. The same applies to other automated sales devices.
Some people who stammer will tend to avoid asking if they cannot find what they are looking for, eg goods in a shop or books in a library. Clear signage therefore helps - including for the toilets!
Having to speak into an entry phone to get through a door, or speaking into a microphone at the entrance/exit of a car park, is very daunting for some people who stammer. Consider possible alternatives and, if the arrangements do have to stay, be sympathetic to any difficulties people who stammer may have.
Writing notes?
Some people who stammer may be willing to hand a note of what they want to say over the counter and indeed may prefer to do so. However, many will not want to do this and will want to have the time to speak - perhaps so that they are not singled out as 'different'.
If a person is having severe trouble speaking it might be acceptable to politely invite the person to write:
Example: a person who stammers was giving her personal details to a health service receptionist. She got her name out with some trouble while the receptionist waited. The receptionist then handed her a piece of paper and pen and asked her to write down her address and telephone number. The receptionist did this as if she might have asked any fluent person to write down their details in the same way. Given the way it was done, this was perfectly acceptable to the person who stammered. (Note: people who stammer do often have particular difficulty saying personal details such as name, address and phone number.)
Most people who stammer do not use textphones or Typetalk. I have a page on this website Must my claim be by phone? (on claiming Jobseekers Allowance) which includes information about using textphone facilities. However, perhaps because people who stammer can talk to a greater or lesser extent, it is probably fair to say that for the vast majority of people who stammer textphones are not on the radar. Also speech therapists are likely to encourage people who stammer towards speaking in situations (such as the phone) which they may previously have been avoiding.
Some people who stammer do use mobile text messages a lot, as it can be a lot cheaper and easier than making a mobile phone call with a stammer!
Voice-activated phone systems - provide option for prompt transfer to a real person
There are now telephone systems which understand speech. However, voice recognition software is unlikely to understand someone who is stammering significantly. The software may also time out if there is a significant pause while the person tries to say the word. Accordingly there needs to be an option to get through promptly to a real person if the computerised system cannot cope.
In one case, someone who stammers was trying to book a train ticket. He had trouble with b's and could not say 'book'. He was switched to a real person only after failing about a dozen times to be understood by the computer. Clearly this is too long and it should be possible to get through to a real person much quicker than that. Another example is Say it again, says telephone Sam (on BSA website).
Some people who stammer say they prefer speaking face to face, and some prefer the telephone. So providing the choice can help. For example, some people who are reluctant to access a service by telephone will go and speak to someone face to face.
Insurance companies often use voice risk analysis software on people phoning up to make claims, to flag up any that are likely to be dishonest. Claims flagged up by the software can then be subject to particularly rigorous investigation.
People who stammer may be flagged up because of the hesitations etc produced by their stammer, or any result of the software may simply be unreliable because it isn't geared to stammering (see box below). There is an article on the British Stammering Association website: The use of voice recognition analysis to combat crime (on BSA website), dated Summer 2006.
It may well be a breach of the DDA to subject a person to particularly rigorous investigation for a reason related to their stammer. Results from the software should be disregarded where the claimant has a stammer, both for DDA reasons and because the software's results are presumably unlikely to be useful in such cases.
Problems using voice risk analysis with stammering
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Voice risk analysis ('lie detector') technology is also being used by many local authorities on claims for housing benefit and council tax benefit. The Department for Work Pensions (DWP) was, as at late 2008, still evaluating the technology, though it apparently hopes to introduce it e.g. for benefit claims through Jobcentre Plus. There would be a full impact assessment in terms of equality issues. Representations have been made to the DWP about the problems of using the software with disabled claimants. For more on this, see Disability Alliance Factsheet: Voice risk analysis and benefit claims (external link).
Update: on 2nd December 2008, the Goverment said voice risk analysis was to be piloted. However, it is not clear if this is anything beyond what is already happening in local councils. www.number10.gov.uk/Page17647
Stammering can have a severe impact in terms of economic exclusion. Therefore a person who stammers may be more likely than average to require benefits. See box on the right for some of the problems of trying to use this technology with a person who stammers. It seems doubtful that the technology be of any value if the claimant has a stammer, and indeed it may be more likely to single out the person who stammers for investigation.
Use of the technology may breach DDA rules on public functions, unless there are appropriate safeguards for stammering and other speech impairments.
(Older sources, dated 5th April 2007: Benefit staff to use lie detector (on BBC website) and DWP Press Release (on DWP website)).
In practice a service provider should assume that any stammer falls within the DDA. There are two reasons for this:
The relevant Revised Code of Practice: Rights of Access (pdf file on EHRC website) comments at para 5.13:
"Service providers seeking to avoid discrimination... should instruct their staff that their obligations under the Act extend to everyone who falls within the definition of 'disability' and not just to those who appear to be disabled. They may also decide that it would be prudent to instruct their staff not to attempt to make a fine judgement as to whether a particular individual falls within the statutory definition, but that they should focus instead on meeting the needs of each customer." (See more fully para 5.11-5.13 and 6.17-6.18 of the Revised Code)
If a person who stammers is actually claiming compensation for discrimination, the service provider may well want to look more closely at whether the particular stammer qualifies as a 'disability' under the DDA.
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Last updated 5th December, 2008
