How can I help raise awareness of stammering at my school?

Change happens on the ground and we believe it starts with spreading the word. We know that it can be frustrating and hurtful when people respond in unhelpful ways to stammering. It might be that they interrupt you or try to finish your sentence, or sometimes it's worse than that and they laugh. 

At Action for Stammering Children, we believe that all this needs to change and that starts by talking about stammering. 

Many people respond in unhelpful ways because they're just not sure what to do and don't know very much about stammering. We're on a mission to change that but we can't do it alone - we need young people like you to help us so that we get the conversation going in schools, workplaces, community groups, and wherever people are meeting each other. 

Interested in being part of our mission? Take a look at some of the ways you can raise awareness about stammering in your school or college. This list isn't exhaustive - tell us about your own ideas and we'll add them in!

Organise a Fundraiser

It might not sound like the most obvious suggestion but it works! From bake sales and sponsored challenges to non-uniform days and raffles, fundraisers are a great way to raise awareness of stammering within your school. 

And every penny you raise through a school fundraising event for Action for Stammering Children helps us to continue to reach and support the 8% of children who stammer across the UK. Find out more about fundraising for us on our website. 

Talk about stammering

If you’re a young person who stammers and you feel comfortable doing so, you might like to consider sharing your experiences to help raise awareness of stammering across your school community. You could ask your teachers about helping to prepare or present a talk or assembly for your class or school, or become a member of your school council!

International Stammering Awareness Day (ISAD)

Every year, the stammering community comes together to mark International Stammering Awareness Day in October. This is a great opportunity to shine a spotlight on stammering. Perhaps you might like to consider organising an event, holding a special assembly or sharing some visual resources around school corridors to mark the occasion. 

Would you consider being an Ambassador for ASC?

Interested in shaping our work and priorities moving forward. The ASC Youth Panel does just that. Youth Panel members are aged between 15 and 25 and help to shape our activities, campaigns and raise awareness about stammering in their local communities. We regularly recruit new members to our Youth Panel - keep an eye on our socials for more information. 

Share stammering resources

Take a look at our range of resources which help to promote awareness and understanding of stammering, and increase stammering representation.

Our resources include:

• Book recommendations: You could ask your teacher or school librarian about stocking some books that are about people who stammer, or have been written by people who stammer.
• Posters: feel free to download ours, or even have a go at creating your own! Remember to tell us about the impact of your posters!
• Short video clips: You might like to include these in a stammer awareness lesson (such as a diversity lesson in PSHE, for example) or an assembly.
• ASC Stammer Awareness Toolkit - designed to support your teachers in creating more inclusive classroom environments, this is a great resource for changing attitudes via your school's leadership team.

Useful links:

• Browse our resources
• Tell your teacher about the Stammer Awareness Toolkit
• Write something for our blog