Jennifer Vaughan, 37, developed a stutter as a child and a wide range of possible treatments – including hypnosis – all failed to solve the issue.
She said: “I was coming to the end of my degree in occupational therapy and hit rock bottom. I could barely say my name and did not have much hope for my new future. I did not think I could get a job in the career I had trained for due to not being able to communicate effectively. I did not think I would get married or have children as I did not want to pass my stutter onto them.”
Jennifer’s mum found out about the McGuire Programme and encouraged her to attend. The programme supports people to overcome stuttering and practice communication skills to help them in their everyday lives.
Jennifer said: “I was very sceptical. The course was four days of hard work. I was very emotional, but it changed my life.”
Jennifer went on to become a McGuire Programme coach and in 2018, started to coach her first student from the India region, Varun who she was able to speak to on the phone from the UK.
Jennifer said: It was wonderful. I came away from the experience feeling very humbled and with a full heart.
“One of the new students broke down in tears, saying this was his last hope and he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. In his leaving speech, he cried again but these were tears of happiness. He looked so much lighter and held his head up high and was smiling. He looked like a different person.”
Jennifer has been able to balance her work as an occupational therapist with her role as a coach thanks to support from her manager at Tees Esk, and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) . She was given the opportunity to take time off to go to India and her team, based in Middlesbrough, supported her personally, giving her clothes and books for her trip.
Jennifer joined the mental health and learning disability trust TEWV in 2014, working first at Roseberry Park Hospital supporting patients in secure inpatient settings. She now continues to work for the Trust at Roseberry Park Hospital in Middlesbrough at SITE, working with older people.
This year marked the 10 year anniversary of the India region and so Jennifer was finally able to head there in person.
Jennifer now organises and attends a support group in Middlesbrough where she meets with other people from the McGuire Programme. The group work on speech, supporting each other, and setting goals and challenges.
Jennifer said: “It’s amazing that I now get to help other people. I have a new student who I speak to every day, and he is doing well. I’ll continue to work on my speech and push myself to maintain and improve my own speech. I have taken an opportunity to do a talk about my profession to nursing cadets at Roseberry Park Hospital in Middlesbrough, which will be a good speaking challenge. Little challenges like this help me to push my comfort zone and is something I would never have done before.”
