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Now I can speak, there's no stopping me
'Do you want some stamps?" asks Heidi King when we meet. "I've got loads because I keep going into shops and asking for things so I can practise speaking."
Heidi King: 'for the first time, I am in control of my speech and it is at the same speed as my thoughts'
At 25, Heidi is finding her voice for the first time. Since the age of three, she has had an agonising stammer, the kind that makes you wonder where to look when she is talking. When I first met her in May, it was obvious that every sentence was a struggle. Words were like stones in her mouth, making her whole face contort with effort.
"Tell people what it's like," she instructed me then with what turned out to be typical frankness. "Say that you didn't know whether to look at me or to interrupt me. Be honest."
Heidi knows that stammering can make listeners squirm with empathy - and embarrassment. But this exuberant young woman has a candour that puts people at ease.
Now, almost two months later, I am astounded at the transformation. She has had a revolutionary implant fitted in her ear, a device designed to improve her fluency of speech. The woman I see before me now is a visibly different person, taller, more confident, her face less strained.
advertisementSelf-pity is not Heidi's style but she has clearly suffered because of her speech impairment. For her, it has been the impatience and awkwardness of others that has created the real barriers.
"It uses a hell of a lot of effort and it drains you," she says. "Sometimes, I think I would like to live alone, have a hermit lifestyle and do a job where I didn't speak to anybody, but I can't. I need friends and I need challenges.
"When people try to talk on top of me or speak for me, I've learnt to say: 'No, I am speaking.' I have a positive outlook. The problem is society's attitude. [1] Go Back
Updated：2006-06-17
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2006/07/17/hheidi17.xml A revolutionary earpiece has helped Heidi King to stop stammering. Barbara Lantin hears the transformation'Do you want some stamps?" asks Heidi King when we meet. "I've got loads because I keep going into shops and asking for things so I can practise speaking."
Heidi King: 'for the first time, I am in control of my speech and it is at the same speed as my thoughts'
At 25, Heidi is finding her voice for the first time. Since the age of three, she has had an agonising stammer, the kind that makes you wonder where to look when she is talking. When I first met her in May, it was obvious that every sentence was a struggle. Words were like stones in her mouth, making her whole face contort with effort.
"Tell people what it's like," she instructed me then with what turned out to be typical frankness. "Say that you didn't know whether to look at me or to interrupt me. Be honest."
Heidi knows that stammering can make listeners squirm with empathy - and embarrassment. But this exuberant young woman has a candour that puts people at ease.
Now, almost two months later, I am astounded at the transformation. She has had a revolutionary implant fitted in her ear, a device designed to improve her fluency of speech. The woman I see before me now is a visibly different person, taller, more confident, her face less strained.
advertisementSelf-pity is not Heidi's style but she has clearly suffered because of her speech impairment. For her, it has been the impatience and awkwardness of others that has created the real barriers.
"It uses a hell of a lot of effort and it drains you," she says. "Sometimes, I think I would like to live alone, have a hermit lifestyle and do a job where I didn't speak to anybody, but I can't. I need friends and I need challenges.
"When people try to talk on top of me or speak for me, I've learnt to say: 'No, I am speaking.' I have a positive outlook. The problem is society's attitude. [1] Go Back