'Don't finish our sentences' says man with stammer

A Redcar man who has stammered since he was a boy has urged others to be patient whilst talking to people who struggle with the condition.

Steve Knight, whose stammer developed around eight years old and has persisted into adulthood, has redoubled his efforts to raise awareness of the condition following the success of an award-winning documentary about Tourette's Syndrome.

He said people sometimes tried to help those who stammer to get their words out and, while he acknowledged they often had good intentions, he said many people who stammer viewed it as rude.

"Listen, don't interrupt - let them finish - and, for the love of God, please don't try to finish their sentences," he said.

Around 1.5 million adults in the UK have a stammer - around 3% of the population, according to the UK charity and membership organisation, Stamma.

Men are more likely to stammer than women, although the reason is unknown.

Around 8% of children will stammer at some point, but most commonly this is temporary and they will go on to speak fluently, according to NHS information.

Knight said many people with the condition tried to hide it, or made alternative choices to avoid drawing attention to their stammer.

"I could tell you a hundred different stories of when I've tried to order a coffee somewhere and walked out with a different order," he told BBC Radio Tees.

"Or I'm ordering in a restaurant and had to have something else.

"You just give up on trying to say one thing, so you say something else. It's very common."

Knight said watching the 2025 Bafta-winning film I Swear, a biopic about a man with Tourette's Syndrome, gave him a renewed "kick up the backside" in terms of raising awareness about stammering.

He even met Tourette's campaigner John Davidson, whose life the film is based on, to discuss their respective conditions.

"He barely ticked and I barely stammered for the whole conversation," he said.

"Baring your soul, when you haven't got that anxiety, those worries, about it - I've seen the difference, how much it helps."

Knight is now planning to start a support group before the end of the year.

"If you accept it as part of you, it makes it easier to live with, for one - and helps with fluency, for another thing."

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