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Hi-tech hope for severe stammerer

Heidi King hopes to have the device fitted in New York

A 24-year-old Norfolk woman hopes to be among the first British patients to overcome a severe stammer by using a special electronic device.
Heidi King is volunteering for the treatment in New York, the British Stammering Association (BSA) said.

BSA chief executive Norbert Lieckfeldt said the device, like a hi-tech hearing aid, would be fitted in her inner ear.

It then mimics the user's voice after research showed stammerers are helped by speaking in unison with others.

Test revealed singing or saying the same words together - the so-called "choral effect" - can help people stop stammering.

The phenomenon was first identified in the 1950s and the earpiece would convert the way Heidi, from Norwich, hears her own voice into a chorus-like sound.

Right kind of attitude

The device, called SpeechEasy, is not funded by the National Health Service.

On Monday Miss King said she needed to raise about £5,000 to cover the costs of her treatment and the three weeks she would need to stay in New York.

Mr Lieckfeldt said: "It is my understanding that this device works quite well, but while it tends to work for a lot of people who stammer, it doesn't work for all of them."

"People have to remember that this is not a cure or a quick fix, it is a crutch. As soon as people switch it off they start stammering again.

"Having said that, if people find something that works for them then that's excellent. However, we really need to undertake more research to help us understand why this device works."

Mr Lieckfeldt added: "Heidi has got exactly the right kind of attitude and is of the opinion that she won't let her stammer stop her from doing anything she wants to do."

A spokesman for SpeechEasy said several thousand people in the USA had had the devices fitted since they went on sale in 2001.

Click here for Heidi King video.