Anti-stammer aid transforms girl’s life

4:31pm Tuesday 18th March 2008

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A BLACKBURN schoolgirl's life has been transformed by a groundbreaking in-ear device which stops her stammering, her mother said.

St Bede's pupil Natalie Riley, 11, is one of the first people in the UK to be given a SpeechEasy, which is fitted to the ear and plays echoes to help control her speech.

She is now the figurehead for the aid, which is being rolled out across the North West, and mum Lindsay said the change in her daughter was "incredible."

The SpeechEasy has only just become available in the UK and still is not available on the NHS.

It plays back the speaker's voice with a fraction of a second's delay and at a higher pitch, creating the effect of someone talking in unison with the stammerer and helping them time their words.

Mrs Riley, 42, a school business manager, and husband Malcolm, also 42, a production manager, paid £3,000 for the device after finding out about it on the internet.

The family, of Water Avenue, Blackburn, have been working with BMI health care's Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle, and the device was fitted in October.

Mrs Riley said she first noticed problems with Natalie's speech when she was four and the diff-iculties continued despite constant therapy. By the time she was eight, Natalie had become so self-conscious that she had withdrawn from friends and schoolwork.

But Mrs Riley said she had now regained her confidence and even won awards at school for drama.

She said: "It was heartbreaking. Natalie was telling us that she felt it was all her fault that she couldn't speak properly, and she never wanted to join in at school.We had heard about the device before and we found out you could get it through BMI.

"She's really confident again now. She's joined a youth group and she's got lots of friends. It's an incredible turnaround.

"It is a lot of money but if it helps your child and gives them a better life then there's no choice."

"It should be available on the NHS. It has made such a difference to Natalie and it could to other children who can't afford one."

Natalie's doctor at the Alexandra Hospital Peter Jones said: "The Speecheasy doesn't work for everyone, but it has been very effective for Natalie."