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Kenyans have been urged to stop mocking, discriminating and stigmatising stammerers and instead support them to pursue their dreams.

Stammerers in Kiambu county regretted that for far too long, most Kenyans have subjected them to ridicule and misunderstanding with some even joking and making fun of their condition.

William Omare who is pursuing a Public Administration and Governance course at Mount Kenya University says growing up as a stammerer has been the hardest thing in life.

Unlike other children, Omare enrolled for nursery school lessons late as he could not easily express himself and his parents only came to realise his situation when it was too late.

When he joined primary school, Omare was welcomed to a life full of stigma, humiliation, depression and stress.

Omare beat the odds and rose above his situation to excel in his schoolwork despite misunderstood in class, taking punishments for unwarranted mistakes and having his classmates laugh at and imitate him.

Societal challenges

“My life has been that of pain as very few people regard us as normal beings. Most often, right from school, they used to hate us for nothing and even failed to associate themselves with us.

Stammering is a condition that has not only killed dreams but one that has also seen very bright minds denied opportunity to serve and or offer solutions to societal challenges,” said Omare.

Speaking during International Stammering Awareness Day that is observed globally to sensitise people about the condition, Omare upheld that the intelligence of a stammerer is in no way inferior to that of non-stammerers and urged Kenyans to embrace the culture of loving and embracing them in the society.

Although there is no evidence of a universal cure for stammering, Omare revealed that his stammering situation has continually improved after he began his speech rehabilitation journey.

The rehabilitation process, he revealed, includes engaging speech therapists, undertaking co-curriculum activities such as swimming, playing football and dancing to boost his self-esteem, that in turn helps in enhancing his fluency.

His sentiments were echoed by Silas Ong’aro and Dennis Mbugua who decried that despite being educated, most stammerers in the country are often denied equal working opportunities as they are assumed as poor communicators.

With their degrees and skills, the stammerers regretted that most of them are pushed to involuntarily join the informal sector with a resultant lack of protection from possible exploitation.

“It is hard for instance to find a stammerer working as a Kenya Defence Force officer. Disability-based discrimination assumes that persons with disabilities cannot work in an open labour market on an equal basis with those without disabilities. In the current world, this should change. Employers must now shift focus from someone’s impairment and instead concentrate on one’s capacity to perform duties,” said Mbugua.

They upheld that blocking out stammerers from attaining their right to work constitutionally infringes spelt out national values and principles of governance such as human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, non-discrimination and protection of the marginalised.

Grace Njeri Macharia who once interacted with a stammerer urged Kenyans to embrace them as normal people saying that most of them are not only intelligent but also great performers who should be accorded the relevant support to their activities.

Disruption of speech

“Stammering is just a small condition that should not make us disassociate with the stammerers. These people are normal like us only that their speech is usually not as fluent as ours. z

Stammering is simply a disruption to the natural flow of speech and does not mean non-communication. That said, most of the people with this condition are highly-educated and can perform even better than us should they be given the necessary support,” Njeri said.

During the event, the stakeholders urged the government to support and empower people who stammer or stutter and their communities and improve their lives by promoting equality in the workplace and other aspects of life.