Your experiences with managers and colleagues and customers in work

Equality

Does anyone have any stories about how a speech impediment has had an impact in work?

I had a very bad experience with a manager and some colleagues and wonder if it is a common problem?

Hope O_o

I am sorry you've had such difficulties...

When I had a regular job, I stammered a little around my bosses (they made me nervous). I spoke smoothly on the telephone with clients.

My bosses seemed okay with me; my male colleagues were not as kind - but they weren't used to sharing their workspace with a female so they were blatant about everything...

My current 'employer' is not patient with anyone or anything, so I can't cite my stammer as making much difference in her treatment of others.

On a positive note, I frequent a bookshop whose best salesclerk has a pronounced stutter.. ..she has worked there for a few years.

Equality

My problem is related to the fact that a manager held a meeting (attended by about twelve of my colleagues) to point out that 'someone is not answering the phone right'. She was referring to the content of what I was saying, as she felt I was giving people too much information, rather than to my speech impediment, but another lady at the meeting spoke up and criticised my speech, so I got hit by two issues in the space of a few minutes.

In fairness to the manager, she was not referring to my speech, but another lady who spoke at the meeting did have a big problem with my speaking voice (it is a somewhat grating voice, but I was having speech therapy at the time, and even the speech therapist could not solve the speech problem.) I had not realised until my colleague spoke at the meeting that my voice was causing such an issue in the office.

The meeting caused a lot of bad feeling in the office, to say the least. It led to such nastiness that management had transfer me to Dublin.

The speech issue still causes problems - either people can't hear me, because my voice is too weak, or it is annoying them because it has a grating tone. (It is not a stammer, in my case).

Has anyone any tips for how to avoid having to talk, when working in an office type environment?

tallaghtmick

When I managed for Dunnes my first store manager had a stutter and would get stuck on words but never stopped him,he was highly respected within Dunnes,it didnt help me when he was having a rant because I tend to stutter when tired or stressed:o