Andrew Bell Stammers

There is no precise or legal definition for stammering or stuttering. A stutterer can therefore deny that he/she stutters with impunity. On the other side of the coin, one can be of the opinion that a particular person stutters and voice the same; also with impunity.

Andrew Bell stutters. Bell's stammer was apparent to us all on the first day of the course. Several course participants came up to me and whispered their concerns about Bell's failure to have cured himself. I had the opportunity to meet almost all the course participants on the previous night (Sunday, Nov. 10, 2001) as we had all gathered in the bar, informally and of our own accord, to find out a little about each other.

Andrew Bell has a problem with "L", "T", "as"; (as in aspirin) and other hard consonant and vowel sounds. He takes a particular medication for his migraines and the medication has a name beginning with the "as" sound. Bell has difficulty saying the name of his medication. Bell also exhibits physical symptoms such as facial grimaces, squinting of the right eye and grotesque mouth formations when he encounters a problem sound. These facial grimaces were observed by course participants and is reflected in the testimonies they have provided.

What Do Non-Stutters Think?

A stutterer can easily identify another stutterer. If you have a very mild stutter, it may be difficult for non-stutters to detect your stutter. They may attribute occasional disfluencies to normal speaking conditions. They may be completely unaware that you stutter.

Kirkcaldy, the place where Andrew Bell lives and conducts his Stammering Cured Course, is in the county of Fife in Scotland, UK. Kirkcaldy is a small town with a now defunct mining industry and a fledgling economy. Most of the residents are senior citizens and have lived there for a number of years. The people of Kirkcaldy are simple, nice and very friendly.

You've probably gathered by now that I am a smoker. Every opportunity I got, before and after breakfast, after lunch, during breaks and in the evenings after class, I would go to the bar in the hotel and light up. I'm also very social and I would approach bar patrons and start conversations. Most of the patrons that visited the bar had been doing so for a number of years. The people that I spoke with, all knew about the course and had interacted with Andrew Bell on numerous occasions. I spoke with several people, mostly by myself but sometimes with other course participants being present, and I asked each and every person that I spoke with if they thought that Andrew Bell stammers. While I did not keep a count of the number of people I spoke with, my guess is that I must have spoken with at least 30 to 40 different individuals. Each and every one of them indicated, without any hesitation, that they believe that Andrew Bell definitely stammers.

Crutches Used By Andrew Bell To Hide His Stuttering

Let me preface this by saying that I see nothing wrong in using crutches. After all, if a crutch helps you communicate better and more effectively, then by all means use it. However, Andrew Bell denies that he stutters and my observation suggests otherwise.

Andrew Bell uses several crutches in an effort to hide his stammer. While in mid-sentence, he would say "I've lost it ..." (You said it, Mr. Bell!). He would also pretend to talk to himself during class sessions when he encountered a problem sound. He would also suddenly say, "Let's take this phrase ..." when discussing something or the other.

On occasion, when encountering a problem sound, he would run to get his mini-cassette recorder from his briefcase, which he kept on a chair or on the floor not far from where he stood, indicating that he needed to record the profound words which he was about to utter.

Directly behind and above, from where Andrew Bell stood, in the conference room where the training was being held, is an overhanging ledge. When faced with a problem sound, usually when he was giving us phrases to speak, he would turn around and put his hands up on the ledge and move from left to right as he gave us the phrase, pressing his palms on the ledge and taking them off of the ledge to indicate phonation.