Half their number were saddled with the additional encumberment of a plastic card hung around the neck on a thin, silvery chain-link lanyard spelling out the label ‘STUTTERER’ in glossy raised gold capitals. Not, ironically this violet eyed specimen, despite having developed a most debilitating nervous stammer even before beginning her tenure in this place. They were berated for the tiniest slip, while she would simply be told to take her time, to avoid long words and those she knew she couldn’t’ pronounce. Her stammer would be met with a condescending smile and the patient, resigned advice to try again avoiding this word or that or to find a shorter, simpler term – it was an insidious process she worried was making her worse not better….following on from the previous Institutionalised novels comes this final chapter in the trilogy.
