What's needed from organisations is patience

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(Posed by a model. Courtesy of Karola G via Pexels)

As part of our End the Phone Call Nightmares campaign, Helen tells us about the impatient response to her stammer when calling her doctor's for an appointment.

I've had many experiences over the years that have made me cringe while using the telephone as someone who stammers. I grew up in a time when sending emails or text messages didn't exist. Having to call places like clinics, energy companies or my local council office took a lot of preparation and nerve.

The worse place for me to call was, and still is, the doctor's. A place that typically has queues of callers to deal with and only a few minutes to find out your request, answer it, and get to the next caller asap! It's basically a stammerer's nightmare, one which I try to avoid at all costs these days. But it's also a place I would think should understand patients' communication difficulties better than anywhere else.

When someone is immediately impatient, it's already all over.

I remember calling for an appointment one morning at my local doctor's office. I was already practicing being calm, focusing on my breathing and going over in my head what words I was going to say. Starting off the conversation is always the worst for me. As my nerves brewed, finally a female receptionist answered and immediately started with a sharp, frosty one word: "Name" … pause, pause, "Name!" I said, "Oh, hello, this is …" silence, silence… desperately trying to say my name. The lady breathed heavily in an impatient manner and within seconds sharply said, "What can I help you with?" followed by sighing. I felt she was doing it deliberately. I fumbled around with my words and made a few noises, but really, for me, when someone is immediately impatient, it's already all over. I hung up. I was furious and so worked up that I said a few expletives about her unhelpful attitude.

I dislike these encounters with people who are ignorant to stammerers. It makes you feel unfairly judged and seemingly gives them a right to treat you like an idiot. In this instance, I ended up going physically to the clinic to make a face-to-face appointment. Nowadays, I can make most appointments online and therefore that provides a perfect avoidance really! Does it make it right? Of course not. 

I know that the negative reactions, like the experience I've described, are really down to a few ignorant people. Ultimately, it's the companies who are responsible for making sure their employees are trained to deal professionally and appropriately with the public, no matter their difficulty. Customers that stammer should not be afraid to stand up and make a complaint where needed. 

What's needed from organisations most is patience. Be patient, think of others and have compassion.

Our campaign

• Are you an organisation? See our guide for Getting Phone Calls Right, with details of our free training workshops.
• If you stammer, see how you can get involved with the campaign. We need your help!

Would you like to write about your stammering experiences? See Submit Something For The Site or email editor@stamma.org