A FAMILY from Swarthmoor who have had to pay thousands to get their daughter to London for a life-changing speech therapy course have hit out at the lack of services available in south Cumbria for people with speech disorders.

Jennifer Atkinson, 19, from Swarthmoor, has had a severe stammer all of her life and has struggled to find services in the county which can help her deal with her speech problem.

However, Ulverston speech therapist Alison Taylor, who has helped the nursery school teacher to manage her stammer for a number of years, found a speech therapy course at the Michael Palin Centre in London which could offer Miss Atkinson two weeks of intensive training to help her deal with her stammer.

Mrs Taylor managed to get £3,500 worth of funding to secure a place on the course but Miss Atkinson's parents have had to dish out more than £2,000 towards transport and hotel costs so that they can be with their daughter in the capital.

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Controlling stammer boosted confidence

Miss Atkinson's mum, Lesley, said: "It's just awful. We desperately need more services around here and people need to be made aware of the lack of them.

"It's not an illness but it does affect Jennifer's day-to-day life and we have just not got the services around here which is shown by the fact that we have to go to all the way to London."

Despite the financial toll, the intensive course has given Miss Atkinson techniques to control her stammer which in turn has improved her confidence.

She said: "I have got a lot more confidence in my speech. They have taught us to talk very slowly so the stutter is not as bad as when you are talking fast.

"It was really weird being there with other people who had a stammer but that helped because it made it seem normal.

"I want somewhere around here where I can pop in and talk to someone but there is nowhere so I have to rely on my mum for support."

Miss Atkinson, who works at Church Walk Pre-School Nursery in Ulverston, attended the two-week course in two separate sessions over the summer.

She is now in the middle of attending four follow-up meetings in London which make sure that she is following the techniques given to her by the centre.

The former Ulverston Victoria High School pupil admits that she was lucky to have a strong group of friends as she was growing up but finds it frustrating when people are impatient for her to finish her sentences.

She described her stammer as an "iceberg" as there is much going on under the surface than people realise.

Miss Atkinson said: "I think some of it is brought on by nerves and sometimes the words just won't come out.

"When I am more relaxed my speech is a lot better. It's a lot worse if I am under pressure.

"People don't understand what's going on inside and they should think before they judge me."

The rudeness and impatience of others has also angered Mrs Atkinson over the years.

She said: "People do judge and they say 'what's the matter with her?' but there is nothing wrong with her. She can walk everywhere fine but when she starts speaking people start looking at her."

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Following International Stammering Awareness Day on Saturday October 22, Mrs Atkinson wants people who have stammers in South Cumbria to come together and unite in an attempt to create more speech therapy services across the county.

She added: "I want other people with stammers to have the same help that we have had and to make people more aware of what it is. It's not a mental health problem or an illness and we need to raise awareness of that.

"It's not curable; it's all about managing it and we need more services available to help people do that in south Cumbria."

WATCH: Four children explain what it feels like to have a stammer and how they cope with it.

What is stammering?

Stammering is typically recognised by a tense struggle to get words out. Commonly it involves repeating or prolonging sounds or words, or getting stuck without any sound.

Sometimes people put in extra sounds or words and Often people lose eye contact.

There are two types of stammer:-

A developmental stammer is the most common type - this develops during childhood as a child learns how to speak.

Acquired or late-onset stammering can occur in older children and adults as the result of a severe head injury, stroke or a progressive neurological disease. It can also be caused by certain drugs or medication, or psychological or emotional trauma.

Stammering varies tremendously from person to person and it is normal for a person who stammers to be fluent one minute and struggling to speak the next.

What causes a stammer?

The exact cause of stammering is still unclear, although it is largely thought to be the result of the parts of the brain involved in speech being 'wired' differently.

In young children, the wiring of the brain is still developing, which may be why many children eventually 'grow out' of stammering and why it is usually easier to treat children while they are still young.

Genes are also thought to play a role in many cases of stammering, as around two in every three people who stammer have a family history of the condition.

How is stammering treated?

There are many different speech and language therapy approaches that can help people to improve fluency and communication skills in people who stammer.

A therapist will work with you to come up with a suitable plan tailored to your or your child's individual circumstances.

This may involve: Working to create an environment in which a child feels more relaxed and confident about their use of language and working on feelings associated with stammering, such as fear and anxiety strategies to improve fluency and communication skills.

Electronic ‘anti-stammering’ devices are also available and can be helpful for some people. These are designed to help people control their speech by giving them sound feedback, although they are not generally available on the NHS.