There’s no doubt about it, going to university is a life changing experience. There can be a lot to phone home and tell loved ones about, from the endless nights of partying to some of the new challenges faced by many new students, such as learning how to use a washing machine.

However, for 22-year-old Rob Dawson, phoning home from university brought with it challenges of a different kind.

He explains: “I have very vivid memories of using the phone in my final year at Lancaster (University) and hardly being able to get a word out when talking to loved ones. There were several occasions when this situation would bring me to tears and lead me into a state of distress for hours, sometimes days, when I would be unable to face doing any work or face the outside world.”

Rob is one of an estimated 750,000 people in the UK who live with a stammer.  The term stammering covers a wide range of difficulties with speech, including the repetition of one particular syllable or a total block on certain words.

Take a moment to imagine not being able to say your own name, or being unable to order a drink you want in a bar because the brand name is a “feared” word. These are things that most people will take for granted but a person who stammers may go to great lengths to appear fluent, from substituting words or even avoiding the situation altogether. It is difficult for other people to truly understand the daily struggles and feelings of frustration that living with a stammer can cause every day, because so much of it remains under the surface.

Jennifer Sanders, who has stammered since childhood knows all too well the avoidance tactics which can be used in order to appear more fluent. She says: “I don’t go out of my way to meet new people, and I’m not as friendly to people I don’t know well because I am afraid I will stammer. I also usually avoid phone calls and try to avoid having to say my name. I went through speech therapy all through school, for twelve years. My speech did improve but mostly I just learnt how to hide my stammer.”

Although the cause of stammering is unknown, it usually starts in childhood and is believed to be a neuro-developmental disorder, which involves the systems of the brain that are active during speech. According to research the brains of people who stammer process speech differently to those who do not. There is also thought to be a genetic link, and you are 20% more likely to stammer if you have a close relative who does.

For Rob, stammering has become more of an issue as he grows older. He says: “Since I attended University and entered the “real world” I have found that I have had to deal with a lot more people than I had to whilst I was at school. Whilst I was at University, I hated having to go to see tutors to ask about coursework as I felt intimidated talking to them on a one to one basis and my speech would suffer as a result.”

“As an adult I am obviously more aware of the limitations my stammer puts on me and this has had a highly detrimental impact on my confidence and self-esteem.”

James McAvoy’s recent West End stint in Three Days of Rain was notable because his character Ned, arguably the most pivotal role in the play, has to contend with a stammer, where his face visually contorts while he is trying to speak.

Michael Billington, in The Guardian wrote of McAvoy’s performance that it included, “one of the most convincing stammers... ever heard on any stage.”

In order to prepare for playing the role of Ned, James McAvoy spent some time with speech therapist Rachel Everard.

Rachel says: “The playwright, Richard Greenberg, clearly knew quite a bit about stammering when he wrote this part. In the script it’s written quite clearly where the character Ned is meant to repeat a sound of block on a sound; in one of the scenes where Ned becomes more emotional, he starts to stammer more.”

“I did show James some examples of people stammering so that he could see different types of stammering and we talked about the causes of stammering and how it can affect people. James was funny, open, sensitive, interested and very down-to-earth – in fact it was a real privilege to work with such a committed and skilled actor.”

Rachel works at the City Literary Institute (City Lit), which is based in Central London. It is the only college of its kind in the UK which offers adults who stammer a variety of courses, including evening classes and different workshops.

She says: “City Lit is regarded as a centre of excellence in adult stammering therapy and offers a unique provision to adults who stammer. The range of courses is diverse and we aim to offer something for everyone.”

In 2008, City Lit was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize in honour of its “distinctive approach to speech therapy that supports and empowers people who stammer.”

The British Stammering Association has campaigned for many years to change society’s attitude to those who stammer. Many myths surround the condition, including the perception that people who stammer are less intelligent and suffer from a lack of confidence or an anxiety disorder. Medical research has proven none of these to be true.

However, despite improvements in the general attitude towards disability, people with stammers in broadcast media are usually portrayed as comedy figures and there to be laughed at, an example being Ronnie Barker’s character Arkwright in Open All Hours. Why is this the case?

Simon Bacon who stammers himself agrees. He says: “There are very few cultural references to stammering that show it in a positive light, everyone who has one in the medial is either portrayed as a fool, as immature or as a liar.”

Research has shown that how much a person stammers can depend very much on their own view of how they communicate. It has been shown that people tend to stammer more when they are stressed, excited or tired, suggesting that the condition is affected by external factors.

Rob agrees with this. “I think my stammer is primarily determined and affected by environmental factors,” he says. “If my life is going well my speech is generally much better than when I am going through a rough patch.”

In the busy modern world it is often felt that there is not enough time for people who take longer to speak. However people such as Gareth Gates and Rowan Atkinson remain positive advocates for those who stammer and are a reminder that it does not have to hold you back from your chosen career path.

For Rob, he says he has learnt to accept his condition. “My stammer has undoubtedly shaped the person I was, the person I am, and the person I am always likely to be,” he says. “I know that it will always be a part of me, and even if I woke up miraculously in the morning with no stammer I don’t think it would change me as a person. That is something which I should never try to lose sight of.”