Examples of jobs done by people who stammer/ stutter - Stammeringlaw - Disability discrimination and stuttering/stammering: Equality Act 2010

This page gives examples of people who stammer doing various jobs. I have taken particularly people you can read about on the internet in relation to the job, so that you can find out more.

This page shows only examples of jobs and should not be taken as any kind of representative sample. Certainly don’t assume that there isn’t someone who stammers doing some job because it isn’t mentioned here. There almost certainly is. It’s probably just that I don’t know of it appearing on the internet yet. Do let me know of anyone you think should be included, including any links for them (allan@atyrer.net).

Also look at ‘Stambassadors’ (actionforstammeringchildren.org) which has videos by people who stammer in different jobs.

Accountant

Iain Wilkie, former senior partner at EY (Ernst & Young):
I am enjoying life (stamma.org), 2020
Getting to grips with the stammer (archive.stammering.org), 2016
Raising Stammering Awareness at RBS (archive.stammering.org), 2015 – senior audit manager at bank.

Air traffic controller

Note: check CAA Medical standards (caa.co.uk) which refer to speech disorders.

BSA website article on Air traffic controlling with a stammer (archive.stammering.org), 1996
Also see Pilot below.

Armed forces

Captain J. Lang MBE, Defence Medical Academy (www.scottishstammeringnetwork.org), 2020
Let’s talk about health (stamma.org), 2020 – nurse in the army
Nothing was going to stop me being a soldier (stamma.org), 2020
Armed forces articles on former BSA website (archive.stammering.org), 2007-2015
Stuttering in the Coast Guard (Ep. 413), stuttertalk.com, 2013
Stuttering in the military with Captain Jody Fuller (Ep. 299), stuttertalk.com, 2011. Also Stuttering in the military and doing comedy (Ep. 111), Stuttering is Cool, 2011.

Banking

Raising stammering awareness at RBS (archive.stammering.org), 2015 – senior audit manager at bank.

Call centre

Brings her joy – Episode 78 (stutterrockstar.com), 2012 – working in a Bank of America call centre
Coping with phone fear in a call centre (archive.stammering.org), 2004
Never off the phone (archive.stammering.org), 2008 – taking benefit claims over the phone.

Clergy

Stuttering and faith with Father Scott E. McCue (Ep. 431), stuttertalk.com 2013, including preparing for a sermon as a person who stutters, professional challenges related to stuttering
Stuttering clergy spread the word (huffingtonpost.com), 2012
No ordinary ordination (archive.stammering.org), 1998.

Coaching/counselling

Entering the dragon’s mouth (stamma.org), 2019 – counsellor
Hold their hearts – Episode 112 (stutterrockstar.com), 2013 – job coach at an agency that supports people with developmental disabilities.

Computers

Graduate software engineer (YouTube video), 2018 from Stambassadors
Advice from a veteran of the high tech industry from Gunars Neiders, systems engineer/computer programmer at the Boeing Company and a registered counsellor, Washington. On ISAD Online Conference 2000. Includes link to discussion
Running a computer business (archive.stammering.org), 2010.

Consultant

My journey to becoming ‘The Stammering Communicator’ (stamma.org), 2020 – sales and marketing consultant, debbiejollie.com.

Customer service

A stammering odyssey (stamma.org), 2020 – customer service in banking
I believe wholeheartedly in acceptance and stammering pride (stamma.org), 2020 – on the frontline in library: “There were many challenging customers but if you listened to them,… you could usually send them away relatively happy. Hopefully I gave them a positive image of stammering.”
Tales from the shopfloor (stamma.org) 2019 – retail and bar work
Speaking as a librarian (archive.stammering.org), 2011, including giving lectures to students
Stammering at the enquiry desk (archive.stammering.org), 2009 – by an archivist
Fight or flight – Episode 76 (stutterrockstar.com), 2012 – massage therapist
Also see above Call centre and below Sales.

Driving, cars

Courtesy car driver: You cannot be serious (archive.stammering.org), 2014 – a tennis fan landed a job as a courtesy car driver at the Wimbledon Championships
Keeping the wheels on (archive.stammering.org), 2007 – race mechanic
Driving instructor at last (archive.stammering.org), 2005
W v British School of Motoring, 2002 – an employment tribunal held it could not consider the substance of a claim to qualify and obtain a franchise with BSM.

Firefighter

Stammering doesn’t define my capability as a firefighter (stamma.org), 2020, in the US – “I learned how my stutter would be gone in dangerous environments, yet talking in normal situations was much more difficult.”
I could roar (stamma.org), 2019
Case in the Ohio courts, 1993 (i.e. in the United States) – held that a person who stuttered at interview but could do the job of a firefighter had been unlawfully discriminated against. (Another case in 2020: Aspiring firefighter blocked by stutter wins settlement from City of Milwaukee (eu.jsonline.com), 2020.)

Human resouces

Louis Roden – human resources executive in Georgia on ISAD Online Conference 2000. Includes link to discussion.

Journalist

Thriving as a sportswriter in the face of adversity (isad.isastutter.org) – ISAD Online Conference, 2020
Deputy head of international news at the Guardian (YouTube video), 2018, from Stambassadors
Facing stuttering and not giving up with Kelly Snow (381), stuttertalk.com, 2013 – sportswriter
Surprise! You’re on the air! (stutteringiscool.com), 2012 – magazine journalist finds himself facing a radio microphone
The rules for mastering a stammer (archive.stammering.org), 2007 – editor of GQ magazine
Let’s count our blessings (archive.stammering.org), 2004
See also broadcaster.

Lawyer

David Goodin: ‘Highly respected’ Ipswich Crown Court judge retires (ipswichstar.co.uk), 2020, Crown Court judge and previously solicitor advocate
Stammering/stuttering and the potential for prejudice and discrimination in the workplace (medium.com), 2020 – lawyer was told by one interviewer they could never put someone who spoke like that in front of clients, but a partner where he later worked said if anyone made an issue of his speech to simply tell them to “f*** off”
The wonder of life (stamma.org), 2020 – barrister and judge
“A partner told me my stutter lost us work” (lawgazette.co.uk), 2020, but worked successfully at another firm
Intellectual property lawyer (YouTube video), 2019, from Stambassadors
Corporate lawyer (YouTube video), 2019, from Stambassadors
Corporate lawyer (YouTube video), 2018, from Stambassadors
Criminal court solicitor, Scotland: Stand up to your stammer (lawscot.org.uk), 2017
The lawyer’s speech: Stutter turns out to be ‘great gift’ (bizjournals.com), 2011 – employment litigator, including jury trials, in United States
David M. Steiner, Assistant Corporation Counsel with the New York City Law Department. On ISAD Online Conference 2000. Includes link to discussion
At the crossroads (archive.stammering.org), 2010 – deciding whether to be solicitor or barrister
Case on fitness to practise as a barrister, 2010 – not on a stammer, but aphasia following a stroke. A barrister with a communication impairment was found fit to practise
Myself.

Lecturer

See below Teacher / Lecturer.

Management

Jack Welch: StutterTalk podcast Episode 104, 2013 – former Chairman and CEO of GE
Keep On Keeping On – Episode 99 (stuttertalk.com), 2013 – office manager in retail showroom
HR director at BBC (YouTube video), 2018, from Stambassadors
Managing change (archive.stammering.org), 2016 – change management professional
Telling your managing director about stammering (archive.stammering.org), 2004 – company director
Content wins more respect than style (archive.stammering.org), 1996 – Chief Executive of pension fund.

Medical (eg doctor, nurse, vet)

See also NHS Stammering Network whose website includes personal stories of NHS staff.

I can be there for my patients regardless of my blocks (stamma.org), April 2021
Becoming a doctor with a stammer (bma.org.uk), Feb 2021
Doctor (pulmonologist): My story of stammering & social anxiety (stamma.org), January 2021
Becoming a nurse with a stammer (stamma.org), 2020
Let’s talk about health (stamma.org), 2020 – nurse in the army
The turning point that made me face my fear (stamma.org), 2020 – general practitioner in Ethiopia
Be determined to be yourself (radiopublic.com), 2020: dentist
Studying medicine with a stammer (blogs.bmj.com), 2019 – by a third year medical student
Stuttertalk podcast Episode 489, 2015, Patrick Campbell, medical student
Can I get a witness? – Episode 108 (stutterrockstar.com), 2013 – registered nurse
Account by Karen Lewis, a registered nurse in Ohio, on ISAD Online Conference 2000. Includes link to discussion
StutterTalk podcast Episode 274, 2011 – discussion of being a (male) registered nurse who stutters
Vet – Lee Reeves, Texas. On ISAD Online Conference 2000. Includes link to discussion
Not just an event – Episode 97 (stutterrockstar.com), 2013 – veterinary assistant
One day, Eric woke up and found that words failed him (archive.stammering.org), 2002 – nurse
Clinical psychologist, NHS (YouTube video), 2019, from Stambassadors
Physiotherapist and RAF reservist (YouTube video), 2018, from Stambassadors
See also below Speech and language therapist.

Own business

Tech startup founder: Why stammering makes me a better leader (stamma.org), 2021
I cannot imagine life without my stammer (stamma.org), 2020 – garden designer
When stuttering is a gift with Kevin Hartford (Ep. 439), on stuttertalk.com, 2014 – Kevin Hartford joins Peter Reitzes to discuss how stuttering prevented him from being hired for jobs, but also propelled him to start his own small business and go on to achieve great success
Running a computer business (archive.stammering.org), 2010
Minding your own business (archive.stammering.org), 2006. Three people who started their own business.

Performing and broadcasting

Social media

Confidence: a stammer blow (stamma.org), 2020 – running podcast and YouTube channel.

Personnel

See Human Resources above.

Pilot

Note: check CAA Medical standards (caa.co.uk) which refer to speech disorders.

Flight instructor’s severe stutter disappears when he flies (flyingmag.com), 2017. Also YouTube video
The sky’s the limit for pilot who overcame stuttering to fly (azcentral.com), 2016
See also air traffic controller above.

Police

Stuttering and Christianity with Craig Curry (Ep. 435), stuttertalk.com, 2014, includes discussion of working in US law enforcement
Detective: he felt the stutter helped by disarming suspects and humanising him, but was complaining about a move to road patrol: Stuttering cop (YouTube), 2011. About the same officer: Stuttertalk.com, 2013
Better late than never (stamma.org), 2020, administrator in police.

Politics

Joe Biden, US President 2021- and Vice President 2009-2017:
- Biden’s inauguration sparks media interest (stamma.org), Jan 2021, with links to stammering-related coverage,
- How Joe Biden overcame his stutter to fulfil the American Dream (gq-magazine.co.uk) Jan 2021,
- Joe Biden: a president with a stammer (stamma.org) 2020,
- Video: Joe Biden & Emily Blunt discuss stammering (stamma.org) 2020,
- Biden shares vulnerable story on how he overcame stuttering (CNN, YouTube) 2020,
- Joe Biden (stutteringhelp.org),
- Joe Biden at Stuttering Gala (YouTube) and Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, 2008
Ed Balls, former UK Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, former Shadow Chancellor:
Interview with Baroness Whitaker (stamma.org), 2019 – life peer in the House of Lords
Parliamentary assistant: The parliamentary assistant (stamma.org), 2019, and BBC video ‘Your stammer shouldn’t hold you back’ (bbc.co.uk), 2019
Creigh Deeds (US), see Campaign Blasts Stuttering YouTube Attack As ‘Cheap Shot’ (foxnews.com), 2009
Aneurin Bevan had a stammer. Many say Winston Churchill did as well (eg The Stuttering Foundation) though this is disputed (winstonchurchill.org). These two politicians were considered the greatest orators in the British post-War parliament.

Project management

Stammering gives me an edge (stamma.org), 2019 – female telecommunications engineer in the Middle East.

Radio/TV

See above acting/ performing.

Sales

Ann van der Berg, 2000 – sales representative in South Africa
Sales assistant: see Job talk (stamma.org), 2010. “[My manager] once told me I was the best sales assistant she’d ever met! Praise indeed! This was partly due to the fact that I also regularly achieved the highest weekly sales in the team”.

Scientist

Podcast: Disability in the earth system sciences, Part 1 (anchor.fm), 2020, with scientist at the British Antarctic Survey
Finding the community – Episode 114 (on stutterrockstar.com), 2014 – research intern working as primate behaviour monitor
Made for the job – decoding the human genome is no obstacle with a stammer (archive.stammering.org), 2001
Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin are said to have had stammers – two of the greatest scientists of all time. Similarly Robert Boyle and Joseph Priestley.

Speech and language therapist

Speech and language therapist (YouTube video), 2018, from Stambassadors
People who stutter changing careers to become SLPs – on the ISAD Online Conference 1999
Carolyn Cheasman (guardian.co.uk), 2008, at City Lit, London
Podcast with Lori Melnitsky, a US speech language pathologist, on ‘Making Room for the Stuttering’, 2010
Speech and language therapy student: ‘Stammering can’t stop me’ (stamma.org), 2019.

Sport

Mark Jones, rugby player: Stammer: Former Wales rugby player ‘hated’ himself (bbc.co.uk), March 2021, Finding Mark Jones, the angry Wales hardman whose self-loathing drove him to acts of violence (walesonline.co.uk), January 2021
Kelly Brown, rugby player: New patron: Rugby star Kelly Brown (stamma.org) including video, 2020, Warrior talk (archive.stammering.org), 2008
Leroy Cudjoe: The wing’s speech: How Giant came to terms with his stammer (independent.co.uk), 2011, rugby player
Tiger Woods (stutteringhelp.org) – golfer.

Teacher / lecturer /education

The day my mindset changed (stamma.org), July 2021
You may well ask why would I want to lecture! (stamma.org), 2020
Teaching with a stutter (isad.isastutter.org) – ISAD Online Conference, 2020
Train your chair (stamma.org), 2020 – university lecturer
The wonder of life (stamma.org), 2020 – teacher and professor
Stamma trustee wins top teaching award (stamma.org), 2019 – maths teacher Abed Ahmed was crowned New Teacher of the Year. Also:
- about Abed becoming a teacher: “Yes, Mrs Cunningham” (stamma.org), 2021,
- Abed on TV (YouTube video), 2019,
- Abed on Stambassadors (YouTube video), 2018
Classroom music teacher: An impossible career? (stamma.org), 2019
Foreign language teacher (YouTube video), 2018, from Stambassadors
Science teacher (YouTube video), 2018, from Stambassadors
Student Services Manager at a sixth form: ‘Work in education, it would be fun’, they said…and it is (stamma.org), 2019
Mama with a stammer (archive.stammering.org), 2016 – teacher
Lessons on stuttering – Episode 113 (stutterrockstar.com), 2014 – elementary teacher and Girl Scout leader
Teachable moments – Episode 86 (stutterrockstar.com), 2012 – teacher
Working with primary children (archive.stammering.org), 2010 – teaching assistant
The case of the stuttering lecturer (stamma.org), 2009 – can stammering actually help you lecture? Grant Meredith was voted top lecturer at his university and 14th in Australia. Also Grant Meredith (stutterrockstar podcast), 2012, and Walking into the Coliseum: Another day at the office (Stuttering Homepage), 2011
Once more into the deep (archive.stammering.org), 2009 – teacher at school for young people with behavioural issues
Let’s talk about my stammer (TES website), 2008 – five teachers who stammer
Beyond the imperfections (archive.stammering.org), 2008 – trainee teacher
Right – I’ll prove them wrong! (archive.stammering.org), 2006 – professor in public health
Stammering in law lectures (archive.stammering.org), 2000
Also driving instructor under Driving, and flight instructor under Pilot.

Trade union official

It will never hold me back (stamma.org), 2019
Negotiating with a stammer (archive of stammering.org), 2011 – shop steward, then senior trade union jobs.

Visual arts

Is being creative related to my stammer?, June 2021 – artist, writer and blogger
Comic strips by Gareth Cowlin (archive.stammering.org), 2017 – cartoonist and lecturer
Painted stories (archive.stammering.org), 2017 – Mikey Cuddihy, artist and author.

Writer

Margaret Drabble, author: In Conversation: Margaret Drabble & David Mitchell (stamma.org), video 2020, Public speech and public silence (archive.stammering.org), 2001/2
David Mitchell, author (not the comedian):
- In Conversation: Margaret Drabble & David Mitchell (stamma.org), video 2020,
- Black Swan Green revisited (archive of stammering.org) 2011 (Black Swan Green is David Mitchell’s semi-autobiographical novel about a teenager who stammers),
- Let me speak (archive of stammering.org) 2006,
- My stammer is a secret informant (archive of stammering.org), interview, 2006
Maggie O’Farrell, author: The monster in my mouth: Maggie O’Farrell on fighting her stammer (theguardian.com) 2013
Owen Sheers, poet: One to one with Owen Sheers (stamma.org), video 2021
Zaffar Kunial, poet: One to one with poet Zaffar Kunial (stamma.org), video 2021
“If I can’t finish a word, how the hell will I finish life?” (archive.stammering.org), 2014 – performance poet
Writer’s blocks (archive.stammering.org), 2013 – journalist and novelist
Somerset Maugham (stutteringhelp.org), author (d.1965)
Arnold Bennett (communityis.com), novelist (d.1931)
Lewis Carroll (stutteringhelp.org), The Curious Life of Lewis Carroll (stutteringhelp.org), author of Alice in Wonderland (d.1898).
See also above Journalist.

For more:

Stambassadors (actionforstammeringchildren.org) – videos by people who stammer in jobs
The list of jobs on the Stuttering Homepage.

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