When is School for Stammerers on ITV and what’s the McGuire Programme featured on the show?
School for Stammerers, which follows six people as they tackle their hugely debilitating stammer, is a one-off documentary that airs on ITV
SCHOOL For Stammerers, a one-off documentary that follows six people as they tackle their hugely debilitating stammer, is set to air on ITV tonight.
But, what do we know about the show? And what is the McGuire Programme featured on the show?
When is School for Stammerers on ITV?
School for Stammerers is a one-off documentary.
It will air TONIGHT, Tuesday, 9th January, on ITV at 9pm.
It follows the emotional journey of six individuals as they attempt to achieve the one thing that could change their lives – control of their stammer.
A lorry driver, a teacher, a pharmacist, a professional photographer, and two school boys have all agreed to undergo a course that claims it can transform a stammerer’s speech in just four days.
What is the McGuire Programme featured on the show?
School for Stammerers features teachings from the McGuire Programme, an intensive and emotionally-charged residential course run by former stammerers.
The McGuire Programme was founded in 1994 by Dave McGuire, a stammerer.
The course uses physical and psychological techniques and can lead to life-changing results.
Over the four day intensive course, from 7am to 10pm the students can talk to no-one but their coaches. They can have no contact with their loved ones. And within 48 hours they’ll be forced to talk to complete strangers using the techniques they’ve learned.
Steven Cairns, who appears on the show, said getting rid of his stammer was a “euphoric moment, like being released from a dark cave I had been locked up in all my life.”
He told the : "Growing up with a stammer left me feeling very isolated. When I was in 4th year at school I mostly stopped attending because I didn’t want to do things like give talks in front of other people.
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“After I left school I started drinking a lot, drifted in and out of jobs with no direction or prospects, and at one stage wanted to commit suicide.
“I’d had NHS speech therapy when I was younger but it was only for an hour a week. It was after I’d wanted to take my own life that my dad contacted the McGuire Programme and got me a place on their course in Dundee.
“It was almost like a boot camp and at the beginning where the coaches show a video of how they used to speak I thought ‘it’s a con. You’re a plant.’ But the course changed my life forever."
On the documentary Mr Cairns, and others whose lives were blighted by stammering but underwent treatment, are paired with someone seeking treatment and take them through the innovative speech therapy course.