Changing the language around stammering (literally)

Image

Caption

A mock-up of a campaign ad in a shopping centre

Our award-winning campaign working with Wikipedia to replace negative descriptions.

Summary

For our campaign in 2020, we edited all the entries on Wikipedia that used negative language when describing stammering. We ran adverts across the UK showing what we had done, which went global, being showcased in the US, Canada and Australia. It garnered awards and an endorsement from Wikipedia's founder.

Outcome: Harmful descriptions of stammering being replaced by neutral language, to help break the stigma.

Background

Design agency VMLY&R, who came up with the STAMMA logo pro-bono, came to us with a new idea. They spotted that many entries for notable people who stammer throughout history on Wikipedia contained negative descriptions about stammering. As anyone can set up profile on Wikipedia and add or edit articles, VMLY&R suggested we go in as STAMMA and change this language to something more neutral.

But why?

As Scroobius Pip says, in his narration for our campaign video, "Imagine you are 15 and you stammer. You love Ed Sheeran or Emily Blunt. But according to articles and stories online, these people are 'plagued' by a 'terrible impediment' which they had to 'get rid of'. When all they did was stammer". What are likely to come away with?

Seeing other people describe stammering as bad, can foster and reinforce a sense of shame. Shame that can hold a person who stammers back in life and seriously affect the way they feel about themselves. One way to end the stigma that people who stammer can face in society, is to change the language we use.

True, a lot of people do see their stammer as a negative. And that’s fine. What we object to is when others assume that everyone who stammers sees their stammer as a negative. Some might see it a positive thing.

What did we do?

A team of STAMMA staff and volunteers scoured the site for all instances of stammering and stuttering, and reviewed the language used. This included entries for everything from cartoon characters like Porky Pig, to writers like Lewis Carroll, actors like Samuel L. Jackson, and President Joe Biden. 

We made a list of entries that used negative language. This included statements such as 'x had a bad stammer', or '…overcame their stammer'.

We finalised a list of over 200 entries, sifting out those where the negative language was in a cited quote from the person themselves. But if it had an unfounded description made by the article’s author with no citation at all, we listed it for change. 

For instance, the worst culprit we found was for a character from the ‘80s cartoon He-Man: 'Mantenna… is a nervous, stuttering imbecile'. 

We held meetings online to discuss what we should replace the negative words with. Once that was done, we logged into Wikipedia and made the edits. 

For example, we changed the above to: 'Mantenna…has a stammer'.

Image

Caption

Our edits for the 'Mantenna' Wikipedia entry

Using neutral statements removes any judgement placed on it.

Campaign

Once all that was done, we set about telling people what we’d done. We created ads for billboards and digital displays, showing what we did: crossing out words and replacing them, with cases for Emily Blunt, Joe Biden, Ed Sheeran, Lewis Carroll and Samuel L. Jackson.

We made a video with VMLY&R to explain what we'd done, narrated by STAMMA Trustee Scroobius Pip.

Read our Find The Right Words campaign page to find out more, including the ways we involved people on social media, and how it was picked up and used by other stammering associations around the world.

Image

Caption

A mock-up of a campaign ad in a train station

Result

The campaign was never designed to attack Wikipedia itself, and we reached out to them early on to work together. They were happy to oblige and founder Jimmy Wales provided the following endorsement:

No one should feel like they are worth less as a person because of something they cannot change. The project really speaks to the nature of Wikipedia, not just as a learning tool, but as an ever-evolving platform that needs to accurately reflect the world we live in.

Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia

We were thrilled when the campaign picked up an award too, when it won the Communications Campaign of the Year award at the Third Sector Excellence Awards in 2021.