Is the stammer a disability?

This page outlines very briefly how far a stammer counts as a 'disability' within the DDA. For more detail, including cases and official guidance, see Disability? - FAQ.

Example from 2006 Guidance:

Para D25(1): "A man has had a stammer since childhood. He does not stammer all the time, but his stammer can appear, particularly in telephone calls, to go beyond the occasional lapses in fluency found in the speech of people who do not have the impairment. However, this effect can often be hidden by his coping strategy. He may try to avoid telephone calls where he believes he will stammer, or he may not speak as much during telephone calls. He may sometimes try to avoid stammering by substituting words, or by inserting extra words or phrases.

".... it would be reasonable to regard these effects as substantial adverse effects."

It is fairly easy for a stammer to come within the DDA. Broadly, a stammer is covered if it has a substantial adverse effect on one's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, such as having a conversation or using the phone.

This is not a difficult test to meet. 'Substantial' means only 'more than minor or trivial', and see the example to the right. It will depend on the individual facts, but in various tribunal cases it has been accepted without argument that the person's stammer had a substantial effect.

Assuming the stammer counts as a disability, the DDA gives you various rights, including in respect of employment, services and education.

Some individual points:

There are likely to be substantial effects even if you hide your stammer.
There may perhaps be substantial effects where your stammer is not evident because of speech techniques. This applies more clearly if you use an electronic device (such as DAF).
A stammer which no longer has a substantial adverse effect is treated as continuing to have one if such an effect is more likely than not to happen again in future.
You do not need to register as disabled.

There is much more detail on how far stammering counts as a disability on Disability? - FAQ, and the pages linked from it.

Top

Is the stammer a disability?

'Disability' menu

Main pages:

More legal detail:

Related areas