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Ian stems stammer to open his own business
A Glinton man whose stammer made him too embarrassed to pick up the phone has set up his own business after successfully beating his speech impediment.
A Glinton man whose stammer made him too embarrassed to pick up the phone has set up his own business after successfully beating his speech impediment.Six months ago, Ian Ladds (38), from Glinton, near Peterborough, felt unable to tackle the simplest of tasks such as ordering a taxi or even introducing himself, because of his stammer.
To try to stop the problem, Mr Ladds had tried everything from hypnotherapy to a hi-tech ear piece, but with no success.
However, after taking a course to combat the problems last autumn, Mr Ladds became a changed person, and was even able to set up his own company, Hire A Trade.
The company helps put people in touch with local tradesmen.
Mr Ladds took part in a four-day course as part of the McGuire Programme, an international course to help people who stammer.
Mr Ladds said: "It has been the best experience of my life.
"It has been like a blind person being able to see again.
"Whereas before I would have been more likely to fly to the moon than use a telephone, I have now started my own business.
"I can now do things such as order a taxi and a takeaway, and introduce myself to people. Before I would be too embarrassed to speak to strangers."
"I am a completely different person."
In his role as managing director and owner of his company, Mr Ladds regularly has to deal with tradesmen, something which he said he would not be able to have done before going on the course.
He said: "I would not be able to be where I am now if it had not been for going on the course.
"I was going through a bad spell last summer, where I had no confidence at all. I was just getting worse and worse.
"But now I am much more outgoing, even though I have not cured the problem completely."
Stammering severely affects one per cent of the population, and the McGuire programme has been used by a large number of people in the past, including pop star Gareth Gates, whose problem was made public when he competed in The X Factor on television.
Mr Ladds said: "I have been on a couple of other McGuire courses since my first, and it is fantastic to see the progress some people make over such a small amount of time."
For more information about the McGuire course, visit www.mcguireprogramme.com.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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