Zargham Ali

It all started when I was 6 years old. It was an on and off process at the start. For me, the most dreadful part would be to introduce myself to new people in a group. The minutes would feel like hours till it was my turn to introduce myself.  I was also bullied for my speech in school. I would dread each day going to school hoping I wouldn’t be bullied today. I went to a lot of speech therapists but it didn’t work. I had full support from my family from the very beginning. 

I was not too much of a shy type of stutterer. Maybe it was because I had never seen myself talking in a video. I would socialize. Before joining the course, I had joined the Debating Society in my University and became the head for the English debates. I also participated in an election to become a member of the student parliament which luckily I did become. 

When I came to Germany for my Master’s degree I wanted to get in touch with a group of people who stutter. I contacted self-help therapy groups but got no reply which now I consider was a good thing to happen.

During my research, I saw videos of the International McGuire Programme on YouTube. The video that really inspired me was of a kid named Musharraf from the UK. I thought if he can do it, then I can do it for sure.

After searching on Facebook I got in touch with Emmet O Connell (RD Germany). When the time came for 1st course, I was a bit reluctant to attend because I thought I would leave the practice after a month or two or it would not work like the other speech therapies I had. But it was my family specially my younger sister who encouraged me to go for it. 

The course was intensive and totally a different method. The first two days were really challenging and all the exercises were tiring. But it paid off. At the end of the course, I felt really happy because for the first time I could talk with control over my speech. It was so good to become a part of such a great support group.

All my close and extended family and friends were really happy and proud of me. They were supportive and encouraged me to keep it going. Now I can talk without any fear of stuttering in front of anyone. Above all introducing myself to new people now makes me feel very happy. Thanks to the International McGuire Programme.