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): Why stammering didn’t hold back my career at E&Y (link to cityam.com) 2012, An Obsession With Fluency In The Workplace Creates Barriers For Those Of Us Who Stammer (https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk) 2017, Spotlight On … Iain Wilkie, Disability Change Agent and Founder of 50 Million Voices (purplespace.org), June 2019.
Getting to grips with the stammer (on archive of stammering.org), 2016.

Air traffic controller

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

Acting / performing

Actors

Lights! Cameras! Improv (stutteringiscool.com) – filmmaker and improv actor. 2013
Three Tough Cookies – Episode 101 (stutterrockstar.com) – three women who stutter who have all recently made their acting debuts. 2013
I’m Gonna Fight – Episode 98 (stutterrockstar.com) – seeking to get into musical theatre. 2013.
Getting To That Place – Episode 79 (stutterrockstar.com). 2012.
James Earl Jones (link to dailymail.co.uk) – the voice of Darth Vadar, and Mufasa in The Lion King. Also article www.stutteringhelp.org/famous-people/james-earl-jones
Nicholas Brendon (link to cnn.com) – was Xander in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
StutterTalk Episode 130 – Austin Pendleton talks about stammering and acting. 2009
Performing arts student Nye Russell-Thompson on his one-man play about stammering ‘Just a few words’ (archive of stammering.org), 2014.

Armed forces

Nothing was going to stop me being a soldier (stamma.org), May 2020
Armed forces articles on former BSA website (archive of stammering.org).
Stuttering in the Coast Guard (Ep. 413), stuttertalk.com, 2013
Stuttering in the Military with Captain Jody Fuller (Ep. 299), stuttertalk.com, 2011
Podcast interview with a (female) soldier in the US military – on Stuttering is Cool, Episode 67, 2009

Banking

Raising stammering awareness at RBS (link to archive of stammering.org), 2015

Call centre

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

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 (link to huffingtonpost.com), 2012.
No ordinary ordination (archive of stammering.org), 1998.

Coaching/counselling

Hold Their Hearts – Episode 112 (stutterrockstar.com) – job coach at an agency that supports people with developmental disabilities. 2013.

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 counselor, Washington. On ISAD Online Conference 2000. Includes link to discussion.

Customer service

A stammering odyssey (stamma.org), 2020 – customer service in banking
Tales from the shopfloor (stamma.org) 2019 – retail and bar work
Stammering at the enquiry desk (archive of stammering.org) – by an archivist
Fight or Flight – Episode 76 (stutterrockstar.com) – massage therapist. 2012.
Also see below Sales.

Driving

Courtesy car driver: You cannot be serious (archive of stammering.org), 2014. A tennis fan landed a job as a courtesy car driver at the Wimbledon Championships.

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 discrimated against. (Another case in 2020: Aspiring firefighter blocked by stutter wins settlement from City of Milwaukee (eu.jsonline.com), June 2020.)

Human resouces

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

Journalist

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) – magazine journalist finds himself facing a radio microphone. 2012.
See also broadcaster.

Lawyer

Intellectual property lawyer (YouTube video), 2019, from Stambassadors.
Corporate lawyer (YouTube video), 2019, from Stambassadors.
Corporate lawyer (YouTube video), 2018, from Stambassadors.
“A partner told me my stutter lost us work” (lawgazette.co.uk), March 2020, but worked successfully at another firm.
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 of stammering.org) – deciding whether to be solicitor or barrister. 2010.
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.

Medical (eg doctor, nurse, vet)

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 – vetinary assistant.
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

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. 2014.
Minding your own business (archive of stammering.org), 2006. Three people who started their their own business.

Personnel

See Human Resources above

Pilot

Podcast interview with an airline pilot who stammers – on Stuttering is Cool, Episode 84, 2010
See also air traffic controller above.

Police

Stuttering and Christianity with Craig Curry (Ep. 435), stuttertalk.com, includes discussion of working in US law enforcement. 2014
Detective: he felt the stutter helped by disarming suspects and humanising him, but was complaining about a move to road patrol: Stuttering cop (YouTube). About the same officer: Stuttertalk.com.

Politics

Ed Balls, former Shadow Chancellor. Links: Stambassadors video (YouTube) 2018, ‘Speaking Out’ by Ed Balls: extract on stammering (archive of stammering.org) 2016, and Ed Balls MP becomes BSA patron (archive of stammering.org) 2010.
Interview with Baroness Whitaker (stamma.org), 2019.
Parliamentary assistant: The parliamentary assistant (stamma.org), 2019, and BBC video ‘Your stammer shouldn’t hold you back’ (bbc.co.uk).
Joe Biden (link to YouTube), 2008 – US Vice President
Creigh Deeds (US), see Campaign Blasts Stuttering YouTube Attack As ‘Cheap Shot’ (link to Fox News) – 2009
Aneurin Bevan had a stammer. Some say Winston Churchill did as well (eg The Stuttering Foundation) but this is disputed. They were considered the greatest orators in the post-War parliament.

Project management

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

Radio/TV

See above acting/ performing.

Sales

Ann van der Berg – sales representative in South Africa.
Sales assistant: see Job talk (stamma.org). “[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.” (2010)

Scientist

Finding The Community – Episode 114 (on stutterrockstar.com), 2014 – research intern working as primate behaviour monitor
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), from Stambassadors. 2018,
People who stutter changing careers to become SLPs – on the ISAD Online Conference 1999.
Carolyn Cheasman (link to guardian.co.uk) at City Lit, London. 2008.
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

Kelly Brown (archive of stammering.org), 2008, rugby player.
Leroy Cudjoe: The wing’s speech: How Giant came to terms with his stammer (link to independent.co.uk), 2011, rugby player
Tiger Woods (link to Stuttering Foundation) – golfer.

Teacher / lecturer /education

Stamma trustee wins top teaching award (stamma.org), 2019 – maths teacher Abed Ahmed was crowned New Teacher of the Year. Abed on TV (YouTube video), 2019. About his becoming a teacher: Yes, Mrs Cunningham (stamma.org), 2019.
Classroom music teacher: An impossible career? (stamma.org).
Foreign language teacher (YouTube video), from Stambassadors. 2018.
Science teacher (YouTube video) from Stambassadors. 2018
Maths teacher (YouTube video) from Stambassadors. 2018
Student Services Manager at a sixth form: ‘Work in education, it would be fun’, they said…and it is’ (stamma.org), 2019.
Lessons On Stuttering – Episode 113 (stutterrockstar.com) – elementary teacher and Girl Scout leader. 2014.
Teachable Moments – Episode 86 (stutterrockstar.com) – teacher. 2012.
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.
Let’s talk about my stammer (link to TES website) – teachers who stammer, 2008.

Trade union official

It will never hold me back (stamma.org), 2019.

For more:

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