The first time I stammered was while answering the roll call in school. I was 6 years old and had no idea this trait would cause fear and humiliation as I grew older.

My parents took me to a paediatrician who said `Your son thinks and speaks fast, compared to others. Get him into swimming, cycling, classical music and other such rhythmic activities to calm him down.’ None of this cured my stammer although I did find an alternative pastime.

In college the problem only seemed to exacerbate. I failed to find any sympathy among my new group of friends nor did the female community make me comfortable. I used to pass chits to my professors before any debate competition happened so as to avoid all the unnecessary drama that would follow. Occasionally the frustration got the better of me and I even contemplated suicide. I was put on anti-depressant pills. That was when I met Ajit Harisinghani, a speech therapist who provided me a few journals that contained articles on stammering along with cassettes, self-help books and, of course, speech therapy.

The treatment included physical strengthening exercises, instructive or repetitive practice and drills, use of audio-visual aids, sign language, picture symbols and other strategies to facilitate functional communication. I also tried hypnotherapy and Reiki. None of it helped much. Prolongation Therapy from a Reader’s Digest article advised delay during speech delivery. I thought this one would work but within a month I realized it was impossible to apply the strategy in actual practice. In 1999 armed with an MBA in Finance I applied for a job in a public sector company.

Although I had all the qualifications needed for the post I was refused. Maybe it was over sensitivity, but I assumed it was my stammer that had worked against me and wondered if there was a way I could let the recruiters know that it was not my fault.

Then I came across a website called Indian Stammering Association (ISA). Discovering that there were many other PWS (People Who Stammer) in the same boat as me proved to be the turning point. Ironically what helped was the knowledge that stammering cannot be cured, only controlled. And the first step in that direction was to accept the trait and be frank about the problem.

It was as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I felt less stressed and performed better socially and career wise. I landed a job as assistant professor at the University of Social Sciences in South Gujarat University. The initial days were rough, but, as I said earlier, I never hid anything from my students. Whenever I went for a lecture, I told the audience about my problem and they understood and readily agreed to co-operate with me. That was a major confidence booster.

In 2003, I was called to do a presentation in Pune, for a seminar organized by a German aid firm GTZ. I finally managed to break free off my mental blocks and faced a crowd of 150. As previously decided I told the audience about my problem before I began.

In 2005, I completed my PhD in Health Economics.

In April 2008, I along with a few friends started TISA (The Indian Stammering Association), a self-help group in Mumbai, which meets periodically to help PWS with survival tips, tricks and strategies. About 1% of the adult population stammers while about 5-15% of school children stammer. In India that accounts for 11-12 million people, of which there’s one lakh in Mumbai alone. That is a large chunk of people who were either avoiding the problem or suffering quietly. TISA, which has support groups in all major cities of India, is there to help them.

Dr Akash Acharya

(Excerpt from an Interview in Health & Nutrition)