Implant cracks stammering problem

By Julian Sturdy
BBC Inside Out East

Heidi had a serious stammer

The story of a British woman whose problems with a severe stammer have been greatly reduced after treatment with an electronic ear implant has led to hundreds of others seeking similar help.

Last year Heidi King, from Norfolk, travelled to the US to be fitted with an earpiece echoing her own voice.

For the first time in her life, she was able to talk fluently.

"The reaction has been more than I dreamed of. Of course I still stammer and I still stammer quite a bit. But it is more than about stammering, " said Heidi.

"It is so much freer. It isn't a taboo subject. It changed tremendously.

"I think people who didn't stammer got a wake up on what people who stammer go through every day."

Like most stammerers, Heidi can sing in unison without stuttering. The implant mimics that "choral effect" by sending out an echo of Heidi's voice.

It tricks her brain into thinking she is talking along with someone else and unblocks the impediment.

Most benefit

Heidi's treatment featured in a documentary film made by BBC Inside Out East.

Heidi King undergoes a brain scan at Oxford University

The film has also been used by a company marketing one of the commercially available devices to demonstrate the treatment and how it helped Heidi.

There is very limited information to date on who can benefit from the treatment.

Heidi still stammers - and sometimes stammers a lot - but one manufacturer says up to three quarters of stammerers get some benefit.

The British Stammering Association believes the speech devices should be widely available on the NHS.

But the costs are high and only a handful of patients have been treated so far.

Across Europe about 800 people have bought the SpeechEasy implant which fits within the ear and costs about £3,000.

A similar external device called VoiceAmp costs about £1,500.

Wide impact

The speech implant has enabled Heidi to resume her doctorate in psychology at the University of East Anglia. She is now employed as an NHS trainee psychologist.

Tammy Davidson is impressed by the technology

Heidi's story has also had an impact on other stammerers according to speech therapist, Tammy Davidson, who has worked with Heidi.

"People who stutter worry about what other people think. Heidi came out and spoke out," she said.

"It has raised the issue of what is success in managing your speech.

"Success is not just about being perfect speech. It is about being able to engage with life; about taking those chances where it is difficult to talk."

She points out that Heidi has joined a public speaking club in Norwich.

Heidi is also taking part in a research programme at Oxford University's department of experimental psychology, which is studying the connection between speech disorders and abnormal structures of the brain.

It emerges that some stammerers use different parts of the brain when speaking.

Researcher Dr Kate Watkins said: "We have seen so far there are differences in patterns of activity when people who stammer are speaking and there also seem to be some difference in the shape of the brain."

Inside Out reports on Heidi's story on BBC1 East on Wednesday 24 October at 1930BST or nationwide for satellite viewers on D-Sat 981. Or from then at the Inside Out website.