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I’m Zhixing, a PhD student at the Speech Lab at University College London (UCL). My research explores anxiety in children who stammer and is guided by lived experience.
Stammering research has often been led mainly by professionals. At our lab, we want to change that by making sure children and young people who stammer have a real voice in shaping what gets studied and how, so the research is genuinely meaningful and useful for the people it is meant to support.
I use an approach called Patient and Public Involvement (PPI). PPI is a simple idea: research works best when it is shaped with the people it is meant to support. It uses practical ways of listening to real-life experiences and using those views to guide the research. In practice, PPI activities might include helping to decide the most important topics, checking that research materials are clear and easy to understand or giving feedback on questions so they feel fair and relevant.
If you get involved, your views could inform the whole research cycle, for example, suggesting better ways to ask about anxiety or help us share findings back to families in a clear and helpful way.
By taking part, you’re not only sharing your own experience. You’re helping shape research that can support the whole stammering community.
Interested? Get in touch: [email protected]
They’ll be relaxed and supportive. Sessions may be online or in-person in small groups, and you can take part in ways that suit you – for example by talking, typing, or giving written feedback. There’s no pressure to speak in a certain way, and breaks are always okay.
That’s completely okay. There are no right or wrong answers and you only share what you want to.
No. Taking part is always your choice. You can change your mind or stop at any time.
Your views will be treated respectfully and confidentially. Any use of your ideas in research will be anonymous.
You won’t get a direct personal benefit, but your thoughts and ideas will help shape research so it focuses on what matters most to young people who stammer, including future projects that could make a real difference.
You can find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about stammering by taking a look at our Support Hub Knowledge Articles
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