Archive for the ‘- region - Ireland’ Category

Stuttering / Stammering and Golf - Response from Geoff Liddington (UK)

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

Hi Dave,

I just found your posting regarding golf - it was last Thursday. I introduced my use of Golf in 2001 at either Swindon or Bristol and it takes the form of an interview between a well know golf pro and a golf commentator;

Commentator: - Well Tiger, why do people refer to you as the luckiest golfer?

Tiger: - What do you mean, Barry?

Commentator: - Well, every time you find yourself in the ‘rrrrrough’ you put yourself back on the fairway with just a simple shot. You pause - - - to assess the situation and decide which club or iron to use, you swing a few p p p p practise shots (block release) then with your eye on the ball, draw the club right back and assertively hit the ball and follow through (eye contact, long hit and hold, and assertive first sound and keep moving forward, no holding back) and each time your ball lands back in the middle of the fairway. The same thing happens when you land in a bunker, you pause – assess the situation, choose a wedge, swing a few p p p p practice shots (block release) then with your eye on the ball you draw the club back and assertively but controlled you hit the ball with follow through (eye contract short hit and hold, keep moving forward, no holding back), your ball lands on the green next to the pin/hole. That’s what I mean. It always looks so easy for you, no matter what difficulty you have it doesn’t seem to worry you. You just take your time to put it right. You must feel very lucky.

Tiger: - Well, I must think about this (pause - resist time pressure) Well Barry, all I can say is this, the more I practise luckier I seem to get. A club could be used to demonstrate the various points.

Regards,

Geoffrey

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Posted in - region - Australia, - region - Denmark, - region - Ireland, - region - New Zealand, - region - Norway, - region - Sweden, - region - UK North, - region - UK South, - region - USA, Speaking as a Sport | 3 Comments »

Grad testimonial - Rachael Gill

Monday, September 25th, 2006

My name is Rachael Gill, I come from Derry, Northern Ireland. I started the McGuire Programme in November 2004. My first course was in Galway and Michael Hay was the course instructor. 
Before joining the course I was a covert stammer. I would hide my stammer so that no one would laugh or make fun of me.  I got fed up always worrying about my speech and decided it was time to do something about it.  I heard about the programme on the internet and rang Joe O’Donnell and arranged to go on a course.  On the way to the course I was so nervous. I remember getting off the bus at Galway and wanting to get straight back on it again to take me home.  I persevered and little did I know that the experience ahead of me would change my life forever.

The course lasted three days and was very intense.  At first I held back after learning my new technique to speak but eventually I developed more confidence throughout the course and spoke more and more. After my first course I felt I could do anything, talk to anyone and it felt amazing to have this freedom. 
Two years later and I am still experiencing this freedom and my confidence has grown tremendously. All the hard work on my speech has really paid off. I try to make myself face new challenges every day to improve my confidence and my speech. I don’t avoid any situations now like before such as avoiding asking for things in a shop. One of my biggest challenges which I recently conquered was saying a church reading at a wedding. My speech was very good and I felt amazing after it. I also did presentations and live radio interviews that were equally as challenging and rewarding.
I still attend courses when I can in order to work on my speech and I attend my local support group meetings, which have proven to be a great help. I advertise myself as a recovering stammer all the time, as this is what I am and I have accepted this. 
Without the McGuire Programme I would not have achieved half of the things which I have done these past two years.

Regards,

Rachael Gill
Recovering stammerer.

Posted in - region - Ireland, Testimonials | No Comments »

Speech and Language Therapist’s report of Galway course

Monday, August 21st, 2006

by Gillian McAlister
Speech & Language Therapist

I have just spent four worthwhile days in Galway city. I got on the
Belfast bus at Dungannon, changed at Enniskillen, then again at Sligo
and arrived in Galway 5 and a half hours later, just in time for some
great fish and chips in McDonaghs, before heading to the Salthill
hotel. There started my real journey. I met eleven people, ranging from
14 years to 40, both men and women, who had a stammer. I also met Joe
O’Donnell, the course organizer, and Gareth Gates, pop idol winner and
singer, who was instructing the course. Joe and Gareth stood at the
front and told us how they had used the McGuire programme and
techniques to manage their dysfluency successfully. That was Wednesday
evening – 7 pm till 9.30 - listening to their story and the story of
the eleven other people, all of who were fed-up with not being able to
speak their minds and participate in a life they wanted. There should
have been twelve members, but one man got nervous. However, he was back
in the room at 8.30 the next morning, ready to learn how to manage his
dysfluency.

All the new participants stayed in the hotel for the next three
nights. Students under 18 years old share a room with their parent or
guardian. Students over 18 years old shared a room with a “graduate”.
Learning to be a graduate takes time and effort for improving speaking
technique (for at least six months) and completing training in speaking
eloquently and understanding the complex issues experienced by people
who stammer. It’s a long road, but the McGuire programme proves that it
can be a fun, rewarding and successful journey.

The course hours are long. I estimated that the participants were
training for 11 hrs on Thursday and 12 hours on Friday and Saturday.
There were plenty of breaks, as well as time for breakfast, lunch and
tea. There was a 10th anniversary party of the McGuire programme in
Ireland on the Friday night – and some didn’t get to bed too early!

But what did they do? As a speech and language therapist, that was what
I wanted to know too. You may have seen the TV documentaries on UTV/RTE
this past few years or the interviews with Gareth Gates on the Kelly
Show or you may know of someone who has been on the course. I wanted to
understand the technique, to see what Dave McGuire, an American,
recovering stammerer, had found out that many speech and language
therapists hadn’t.

And it is complicated – until it’s explained in small steps and
practiced. As far as I could see, you only need to understand two
things to be able to use the technique – firstly that it is necessary
to use breath from the lungs to speak, and secondly, it is necessary to
do what you are asked to do. If you understood this you were through
the first day. The programme breaks the act of voice production and
speech down into three areas: think about speaking, get ready to speak
(breathe in) and speak. These areas comprise the 14-point checklist.
Each area is explained and demonstrated by the leader and practiced by
the new participants with the help of a graduate or coach – that means
one to one tuition. They learn to breathe using the costal diaphragm
muscle, and the art of using this in-breath to its maximum potential
for speech. This involves learning to time speech for each breath, how
to articulate the speech sounds to flow eloquently to form words, and
how to speak with respect to your listener.

By the end of the first day, all the new members were overcoming
their fear of stammering. 85 % were able to speak their name, address
and telephone number with fluency. The other 15 % were able to stand
–up and give the technique their best shot, but still needed some
additional one to one coaching. By noon on Friday, this 15% were at the
same standard of eloquence, speaking their name, address and telephone
number and overcoming their fear of stammering. By Thursday evening,
more graduate members had arrived from England, Norway, other parts of
Ireland, and that’s not to mention the people who had already traveled
from Northern Ireland, Scotland and South Africa, just to help others
and join in the practice at getting good at the sport of speaking.
There were approximately 80 people from all walks of life and all ages,
religion and gender. Many of them came up to me and introduced
themselves, explaining who they were and how the programme had worked
for them. Many were still committed to the programme after three, four
even seven years, to getting better at speaking and helping others who
felt trapped by their dysfluent speech. Others told me how they enjoyed
traveling to other parts of the world to join a programme and continue
their own practice for a few days on the course. The simple things in
life we take for granted like ordering food, booking an appointment,
buying cinema tickets had become a less fearful situation – in fact, it
had become a challenge to be worked on. Hobbies and interests, going
out and meeting people were now situations of enjoyment, not fear and
loathing. The participants seemed to have regained their self-esteem
and earned respect from their listeners – fluent or dysfluent people
alike.

Friday morning had seen the participants up for telephone practice
and breathing exercises at 7am. It is vitally important to exercise the
costal diaphragm everyday to maintain its efficiency and strength. This
is an area of discipline that will be required throughout the programme
and for the initial stages of the graduate’s recovery. The techniques
that are practiced to overcome speech blocks, repetitions, hesitations,
prolongations and avoidances must be employed with diligence and
integrity – no hiding or giving up! The encouragement by the leaders
and the other participants on the course is awe-inspiring. One to one
tuition is given and no block or hesitation goes un-noticed!

The new participants are paired with graduate coaches to go out for
a few hours on the streets of Galway. And then the fun begins! The
leader demonstrates how to speak with confidence and respect to members
of the public, on the street or in shops and confront your fear of
speaking. The new members watch more experienced people make contacts
with the general public. Then it’s back to the hall for further
practice and learning. The large group split into new members, who work
more on their speech skills, and the graduates who problem solve
situations and emotions which can lead to lack of confidence and giving
up. Researched theories are explained to help map out the complex
emotions and feelings that can affect anybody’s perception of the
world, and motivation to do better. Believe me, I found these sessions
valuable. More group learning takes place in the evening looking at the
stairway to eloquent speaking and getting good at the sport of
speaking.

Saturday morning comes so quickly. It’s hard to believe it is the
last day of the first programme for the new participants. They have
come such a long way – from unable to say their own name to speaking
their name with confidence. What a transformation. Previous stutters
are now assertive speech acts. The participants have all the basic
skills for eloquent speech. They have found a forum for practice and
reminding them of their goals. They have found friends and commonality
in the large group of members. They have found their confidence and
self-esteem. They have found their voice and motivation to continue to
practice. They have learned that they are not alone and that the
techniques can work. They have learned about themselves.

Saturday is the ultimate goal day. The new participants are asked if
they would like to stand on a soapbox on a busy street and say who they
are and what they are doing there. They have been given lots of help to
do this – if they want. Needless to say all the graduate members got up
to say who they were – no fear! I also got up and said who I was, and
it’s nerve-wracking. That evening, the new participants are involved in
group games to practice speech and remind them of the importance of the
deliberate speaking acts they have learned to help their fluency. After
dinner, they are shown how to continue their practice and keep in touch
with their coaches who can encourage them to maintain their fluency.
Each new member has a coach who will help him or her every day on the
phone to practice the technique. All members are listed to contact at
any time. Weekly/fortnightly support meetings are available to all
members. Returning to future courses is encouraged and welcomed. And if
you liked the course, it seems a worthwhile thing to do.

And finally, there are the farewell speeches. Members can say who
they are and how much they enjoyed the course. I wasn’t there for that.
But I enjoyed the course. There was a lot of heavy breathing - at
first, and we all drank litres of water (it’s a very anxious time with
all the talking), but if you are thinking about doing something about
your dysfluency, then Go Now.

Gillian McAlister
Speech & Language Therapist

Posted in - region - Ireland, Course Reports, General News, Speech Therapists' Reports | No Comments »

Galway Course, Aug 2006

Sunday, August 20th, 2006

by Gareth Gates

Gareth_galway_1

06:00 hours. BEEP BEEP! The Alarm sirened persistently like a ‘Guards’ car! A couple of snoozes later, I was up and in the shower! And so began the journey from Hell! But to be concise; Delayed Flight + Delayed Train + Broken Down Train + STRESS = a 13 hour journey from London - Galway! Urgh!

I arrived at the hotel completely differently to how i’d envisaged. I wanted a couple of hours to get familiar with the place, have a warm up, have a shower… It was completely the opposite. I walked in at about 7:55pm and we began the first day videos at 8pm! The course had begun…

It became very apparent, from the first day videos, that we were dealing with a whole mix of different stammers; A nice mix of overt and covert. Michael Hay did a fine job of getting the new students leg slapping, coin jingling, b-b-b blocking on their feared words… mission completed! The students did well and I admired their courage. Shortly after, I gave my introduction speech; highlighting the key elements of the course such as; Course approach and Goals, Physical locations of a block, Approach Avoidance, and generally giving the new students an insight into what a stammer is. We broke to have an early night.

I didn’t sleep easy on wednesday night. A mixture of excitement and nerves kept me from falling asleep. I certainly could have done with a few pints of Guinness to help assist, but I refrained! …and felt better for it in the morning!

All 11 new students turned up to the first session on the Thursday morning. All eager to beat the habit that had tormented their lives for too long now. You could really see this in the eyes of the new students. With this attitude, it wasn’t long before we started to see results. From then on in, the course went swimmingly and by the time thursday evening came all new students were able to stand up and recite their names and addresses. A very emotional evening… and again an early night for me!

The majority of Friday was filled with the older Grads taking sessions to which they’d prepared prior to the course. I felt it was important to give as much responsibility to the grads as possible. It not only stretches and challenges them, but it’s healthy for the new students to hear other peoples view and perspective on things.

When assigning responsibility, I’d asked all grads to deliver their presentation in a new / fresh manner. A way that the older grads may have not seen or heard before… but still highlighting the key facts. This way it keeps the older grads on their toes as I’m sure they get a little bored with hearing the same old lists, said in the same old way, presented in the same old way. Most grads stepped up to the challenge. Some grads really excelled… Ger McGrath was one to name but a few. His session on the Rules and directions with his pre-prepared sign post was fantastic …and Diarmuid Dorney with his full judge attire will most probably stick in peoples minds for a long time to come. Well done guys and thank you.

Friday night: A select few decided we’d push out our comfort zones in the bar. I introduced a little game titled ‘Ibble Dibble’ ! And in case anyone was wondering what the hell the black cork marks were on people’s heads… they’re called ‘Dobbles’.'Ibble Dibble’ is a speaking game that challenges the formulation of both fluent and ‘non-fluent’ speakers alike. I must say, us recovering stammerers certainly did better than you fluent speakers… didn’t we monica?! …well apart from Mark Spiers (aka bob aka britney!) who really let the side down and ended looking like he’d spent a whole afternoon down’t pit! I pity the fool!

It was this night that a few of the McGuire girlies took the liberty to teach ME a song! Or at least a phrase from a song… it went something like ‘Hey baby let the free birds fly’ ! I can’t get it out of my head… I just hope I don’t sing it in the wrong company! Thanks Girls. After a few glasses of champagne (to celebrate the Irish McGuire praogramme’s 10th year
anniversary) I retired, looking forward to the day that lay ahead.

Saturday came and it was time to put everything that we’d learnt to the test. The new students were physiqued about doing contacts. Most of them really couldn’t wait to get out there. So after a very well led Harrison Workshop by Michael O’Shea, we did it. People went at their own pace, but most secured 100 + contacts. Well done guys. This was followed by public speaking. Which again, went amazingly. The people of Galway really accepted us well and the new students excelled. Again, a very emotional afternoon.

A little more work led up to the goodbye speeches. Thank you for everyone’s kind words and well done to everyone who got up.

Thank you’s
I’d now like to take this opportunity to thank everyone. Without the older Grads the course just wouldn’t be possible. They do the coaching, not me. So thank you to all that turned up.

Thanks to everyone who took a session: Elizabeth Drummond, Sandra Kelly, Brendan O Carroll, Barry McGee, Ger McGrath, Aoife Corbett, Michael Donovan, Darren Benham, Brian Cornelia, Michael O’Shea, Gareth Meaney, Diarmuid Dorney, Sylvester Carruth, Sadia Bytyqi, Victoria Bell, Clairemarie McGrath, Mark Spiers, Oonagh Sheridan, Philip Reiley, Brendan Hyland, Colin Reddington, Michael Hay. And the Refreshers that read the pairings: Finbarr Farmer, Niamh O’Kane, Kevin Honer, Maggie Bloomer and Laura McKernan.

Thank you to all the staff at the Salthill hotel for their hospitality and doing things at the drop of a hat. It’s certainly one of the best hotels i’ve attended a McGuire course in. I’ll be back!

Thank you to my UK McGuire possee! Michael Hay, Jayne McElhone & Mark Spiers, for all your love and support. We’ve always been there for each other, and always will be. Thanks guys, you inspire me.

Joe - Instructing a course on my own was my next milestone in life. Thank you so much for giving me that opportunity. I didn’t realize how hard an RD works, but working closely with you over the past few months has really opened my eyes. I have allot of respect for you mate, thanks.

Dave McGuire- As i’ve said, It’s because of one man’s dream and desire to help people that we can now enjoy our freedom to speak. Thank you Dave, you inspire me and always will.

The list is endless…

Although, one person in particular really inspired me on this course. Sadia Bytyqi. Her charisma and eagerness to get more and more involved never ceased to amaze me. I think she should be an example to all of us in that it doesn’t matter what age you are, or how much you think you ‘know’, hard work and dedication is all thats required. Her discipline never fluctuated once. Well done Sadia, and thank you.

Final thought;

Stood there on Saturday afternoon, listening to the new students speak so eloquently was indescribable. A phrase that someone once said came flooding back to me; The new students didn’t get down off the soap box, they got up from it. And that summed it up for me. We don’t have to accept everything we’re given in life. Apathy stops us from moving forward. We do, however, have a choice. You make that choice. And you take ownership and responsibility of whatever decision you make. Because remember, only you can make a difference.

Gareth Gates
Recovering Stammerer

Posted in - region - Ireland, Course Reports | No Comments »

Welcome

Sunday, June 11th, 2006

Welcome everybody to the new McGuire News Blog. It is not meant to be a replacement to the main McGuire website (where you can find all the general information about the programme as well as archived video clips) but rather a central forum for all regularly updated news and event information. You can also find here some postings about graduates’ achievements as and when they happen.

Our audio podcast is also just around the corner so stay tuned for that. Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay up to date with the latest McGuire news.

We hope that you enjoy the blog and if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.

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