16 August 2023 , 09:59
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A TikToker whose stammer was so bad she claims she was 'basically mute' until the age of 17 has grown in confidence by filming herself ordering at drive-thrus and now has thousands of followers.
Brave Georgia Scott was diagnosed with a stammer when she was just five and doesn't remember a time when she didn't have it. She would always feel anxious about ordering in restaurants, so she used to order on touch screens in fast food chains to avoid the situation. But now the 25 year old has started posting videos of her ordering food and drink at places such as Starbucks, McDonalds and Costa Coffee to help her gain confidence.
Now she says her stammer has improved from just filming the videos - and is helping to inspire others. Georgia said: "I was having a quite hard time and I just thought I needed people to understand more because it's very misunderstood. I chose McDonalds for the first one because I thought I could either order my food on a screen or I can challenge myself and order at the drive-thru.
"So I thought it would be quite good for people to see how much of a huge challenge it is to order. It's just made me so much more confident and I'm so glad it can help others as well. Making the videos has helped a huge amount because I'm now more self-accepting. I'm not shy in a way anymore and I'm actually putting myself out there now. It just makes people understand how having a stammer can be so challenging as well."
Georgia Scott ordering at KFC (Georgia Scott / SWNS)
She says was mute until aged 17 (Georgia Scott / SWNS)It isn't known how a person develops a stammer, but experts believe it can be caused by inherited factors or how efficiently the speech areas of the brain are working. But Georgia said her first memory of her stammer is when she had to read from a book at primary school and her 'whole class laughed' at her.
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She added: "To me, I've always had it as I can't really remember not having it. I was in primary school and I had to read out loud from a book and I remember struggling on every single word. My whole class laughed and I knew from then that I was not going to speak up again. I couldn't handle being so judged and having everybody laugh at me. That was my first ever memory ever of it."
Georgia said she 'had quite a hard time' during her childhood because she wouldn't talk, so she was 'basically mute.' When she was 17, she enrolled on a speech course and she decided to start talking more as she was determined to not let her stammer hold her back any more.
Georgia, of Newcastle, said: "I was so lucky to have such good support from friends and family but I had quite a hard time. I would just not talk so I wouldn't ask from help or ask questions so I would just basically be mute. When I was 17, I joined a speech course and that helped me a huge amount with the physiological and mental side of it. I just thought that I can't let my stammer hold me back anymore like I was before. I was in such a dark place mentally and I had to get help for that."
Georgia recently quit her full-time job in advertising to post videos on her TikTok account to her 280,000 followers. She said the 'majority of comments are so nice' but said she has had 'some nasty comments' from people.
Georgia said: "The majority of comments are so nice and supportive. Obviously I have had some nasty comments but I think everyone gets some hate if they are posting on social media. I've had quite a few people who have messaged me saying they have got a stammer and it's been amazing. There's so many things I could say to people who message but just never give up and don't be defined by other people's opinions. Everyone's stammers are completely difference and my experience might be the same as someone else's experience."