Brian Dempsey

A massive weight has finally been lifted off my shoulders and I can finally do things that I was never able to do before.

I joined the McGuire Programme in November 2011 when I was 19. Before the Programme I was a very shy and quiet guy with no confidence in myself at all. I was never able to tell jokes, tell stories or even ask people questions because I was always afraid of what people thought of my stammer and how they were quick to judge me.

I have gone through life relying on friends and family to order stuff, make my phone calls and finish off my words when I got stuck. I constantly went through life thinking every day about my stammer and the fear of going into every situation, worrying if my speech would hold up? I never liked this lifestyle because I was always holding back and wasn’t being my true self.

When I started college it was a real turning point in my life. I went through my first year holding back sitting down the back of the class and not putting my hand up to answer the question even though I knew the answers. When I started being treated differently for having a stammer I said enough is enough and I had to do something about this. Since coming off my first course in November 2011, I have never looked back at the quiet and shy the guy with no confidence I was before.

The course has given me massive confidence boast and really changed my life for the better. Not only did the McGuire Programme teach me a technique to control my stammer, but it has also thought me valuable life skills that have made me an all-round better person and there is now nothing that holds me back. I never realised how much of a different person I was before joining the Programme compared to who I am now.

I have finally been able to become the person I want to be! With keeping a very active role within the Programme by being a coach and hopefully one day soon becoming a course instructor, it has helped me in my everyday life becoming a strong speaker.