Reshaping research with young people who stammer

For a very long time, public conversations about stammering have been oversimplified. Many people assumed that young people who stammer are anxious, that anxiety looks the same across every individual.  

Zhixing Yang is a researcher at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London (UCL). In her research, Zhixing collaborated directly with eight young people who stammer. By centring their voices on themes of anxiety and resilience, she uncovered how environmental pressures shape communication experiences and redefined what meaningful progress looks like.  

Zhixing has shared her research findings from these focus groups. For the long-read article, click the link at the bottom of the page.  

Here, our Community Manager shares some of the key insights from Zhixing’s research report.

Why This Study Matters 

Working with eight young people who stammer, six of whom were members of the Youth Panel at Action for Stammering Children, this research explores the importance of putting young people who stammer at the centre of the process. 

Zhixing explains that the young people “helped (her) see more clearly that anxiety should not simply be assumed to sit inside the child waiting to happen. Very often, anxiety is shaped by the environment people find themselves in.” 

Key findings from the study 

Every person’s stammering experience is different 

One of the clearest messages from consultations was that stammering and anxiety vary widely, not only between different people, but within the same individual: 

“Some situations felt manageable for one young person but very difficult for another. Some felt more at ease with friends but much more self-conscious with unfamiliar communication partners.” 

This highlights the importance of understanding the deeply individual nature of stammering and moving away from one-size-fits-all assumptions.  

The environment often shapes anxiety 

A crucial insight was that anxiety rarely appears out of nowhere. Instead: 

“It was tied to other people’s impatience and to social expectations to simply sound ‘fluent’.” 

Young people reflected on being put on the spot in class, having to answer quickly without support, experiencing bullying, and feeling judged before they even began speaking. Zhixing notes: 

“The young people’s voices should be considered as an important shift in understanding about how stammering and anxiety relate. It moves us away from asking only, “Why is this child anxious?” and towards also asking, “What is happening around this child that may be making speaking feel difficult and pressured?” “ 

Resilience is about self-compassion 

The young people reframed what resilience means. Rather than toughness or pushing through without struggle, they described something more subtle: 

“Learning not to be so harsh on themselves (self-compassion), accepting that stammering is part of who they are, and finding ways to respond to difficult moments with more kindness and less shame.” 

Progress, they suggested, shouldn’t only be measured by how fluent someone sounds. Sometimes it’s about feeling less defeated, feeling less alone, or no longer seeing stammering as something that impedes one’s ambitions. 

Finding your community 

Several young people spoke about the importance of meeting others who stammer: 

“Being members of the Youth Panel empowered them and the connections they made as part of this gave a sense of belongingness which was greater than the summed effects of the individuals in isolation.” 

What this means for the future 

Zhixing reflects: 

“Their views also challenged how we think about good research… These discussions made me think about voice and power. There is always a risk that researchers speak for young people rather than amplifying what they are already saying.” 

Zhixing’s study illustrates that involving young people who stammer produces richer, more meaningful, and more actionable research. It sends a strong message to researchers, educators, and policymakers, that by listening to young people’s voices and working together, we fundamentally change the questions we ask and the solutions we pursue. 

If you would like to read Zhixing’s full article, please visit the link.