A Saintfield dad has praised efforts to set up a peer network to help those of all ages living with stammers.
Ross Toland's nine-year-old son Arthur has been diagnosed with a stammer and Ross was also identified as having a stammer as part of that process.
However, he says a peer support group could be key to changing how those struggling with their stammer see themselves and their future.
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The Belfast Stammer Support group is aiming to bring together people who have stammers, in order to show them that they are not alone.
Ross works with one of the co-founders of the group, Peter Bradley, in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.
The Station Commander says he wants to show his son and others that having a stammer should not place limits on what they can achieve.
"We have our own techniques within work, within very formal emergency situations, to control our speech," he said.
"My son can achieve that too and I hope it's inspirational for other people to see people like myself and Pete being successful in life and learning techniques to live with your stammer.
"This can be learnt and I'm sure my son will learn this, and I think this group as well will be excellent for Arthur."
Ross said he believes the approach of bringing together people with similar experiences could ease the pressure on those feeling apprehensive about addressing others.
He admitted he and his wife naturally worry about when his son transfers to secondary school and the additional pressures that might bring, but that the support group can help with that too.
"It's a new way of looking at speech and language therapy - they look at the conventional techniques and share them, but they will also talk about the things that have helped them outside of that as well.
"This group will be tremendous for him and I hope it will be a great support for him.
"He'll be able to meet other children of his own age, older and younger and adults with stammers too.
"And they'll be at different stages of dealing with their stammer, with different techniques, so that's really what I'm hoping this group will bring together."
He added that he is looking forward to becoming a mentor within the group and helping others learning to live with their stammers.
"It's about your mental health, about who you are and what support you have from your parents, friends and co-workers," he said.
"I'm really behind this movement, and becoming a mentor not just for children like my son, but for adults and teenagers too.
"It can only be a positive when like-minded people come together to support each other and their children."
Ross told Belfast Live that he has had to learn with the additional difficulty of having dyslexia, but that in some ways it has proved a bonus.
"We all as parents to an extent pass on our hereditary 'defects' as such to our kids, whether that be bad hearing or the need for glasses or things like that," he said.
"That was the case with Arthur getting his stammer for me and it may be the same with my dyslexia, so I do feel a little guilty and it is a little stressful.
"In many ways though, it's like a superpower and it's own kryptonite.
"Being dyslexic and having a stammer as I do has taught me different ways of communicating and thinking.
"And I've found for instance when I've gone for job interviews within my own work, it's actually these additional traits that have helped me be as successful as I am.
"So my hope is that Arthur would not simply end up with a stammer, but that he'll be able to embrace these other 'superpowers' as such."
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