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From: Andrew Harding
Date: 10/13/01
Time: 8:55:19 AM
Remote Name: 62.6.83.110
Hello Erin,
Should a person who stammers wait to the interview before telling the interviewers they stammer? Generally, yes. By all means include NSA or similar involvement on the CV in a personal development section, yet I see little point including a statement on a statement addressing selection criteria, or worse, in an application letter. There is one exception. If you will need more time for the interview (beyond a minute or two), I strongly suggest asking for this, otherwise the interview schedule may be delayed. If an offer of interview were to be withdrawn after such a request, and the organisation were not willing to make any reasonable explanation for this, it would be worthwhile getting legal advice, because such actions may contravene anti-discrimination legislation.
There are a host of issues to do with telling interviewers about your stammer once in the interview, and as a general point, I think this preferable and more appropriate. Another general point is that any disclosure needs to be accompanied by a good example or two of how your stammering would not reduce your ability to do one or more key aspects of the job on offer. For a fuller discussion of my views, see my response to Chris Roach's comments.
Regards,