'I suddenly started stammering at eight years old, and one unexpected thing triggered it'
manchestereveningnews.co.ukMost people can recall that dreaded feeling of being asked to read aloud during an English class in school. But for Tom Evans, his anxiety went far beyond the fear of reading a paragraph out loud in front of his classmates – he couldn’t physically get his words out.
The 40-year-old, from Cheadle Hulme, had no issues with his speech until he suddenly started stammering at eight-years-old. The communications officer, who works for Tameside Council, found himself battling to form words despite knowing exactly what he wanted to say – resulting in long pauses and sound repetitions. READ MORE: 'Horrific condition means I have to be near a toilet constantly - I have no life' Tom now believes the stammer was caused by general nervousness over moving up a year in school.
But his stuttering wasn’t temporary – with the speech condition having a lasting impact on his childhood and young adult life. “It first came out when I was eight-years-old,” Tom told the Manchester Evening News. “I was becoming nervous about things in my little brain. “I was nervous about going from the junior section of primary school into the senior section.
For some reason, that began this stammer which manifested itself in me.” A stammer, also known as stuttering, is a speech disorder characterised by interruptions in the flow of speech.
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