Youth Panel Blog: TikTok & meeting Maya from Proud Stutter

7th September 2022

Ellie from the STAMMA Youth Panel updates us on what they've been getting up to.

Hi, I'm Ellie and I'm a member of STAMMA's Youth Panel. We are a group of young people between 16 and 25 who either stammer or are passionate about stammering advocacy and raising awareness around the topic. 

We meet once a month — online as we're spread all over the UK, with members from England, Scotland and Wales — to discuss what STAMMA can do for young people. We talk about exciting new projects and ideas, and we have fun along the way, as you can see from the picture above.

TikTok

Check out our TikTok (@stammauk) to get to know the faces behind the panel and follow us for tips for people who stammer in speaking situations, fun stuff we're up to and to hear about our experiences. For instance, Erin posted a video about what's it like to live with a stammer and a learning difficulty, which has been watched over 2,500 times. We'd love to get your input too — if there's anything you think STAMMA should be doing for young people, or if you have any ideas for raising awareness or changing perceptions, get in touch on TikTok.

Maya from Proud Stutter

A couple of weeks ago we met with Maya Chupkov from the Proud Stutter podcast, to discuss all things stammering advocacy. Maya kindly joined us from Los Angeles and delivered an amazing presentation on the work she does beyond the podcast, including working with local governments to raise awareness of stammering and provoke changes in legislation. She talked us through the steps for how to get politicians and lawmakers to listen (read more about that on the Proud Stutter website). This was a brilliant opportunity for us to learn how this can be implemented in the UK, and why it's so important that stammering, and verbal diversity, is normalised.

Check out Maya's podcast and come and join us over on TikTok.