Boy couldn’t speak without stammering until one teacher tried something unconventional and it instantly worked

They say a good teacher can change everything, and Musharaf Asghar, the boy who appeared on the TV show "Educating Yorkshire," knows it better. Musharaf was 16, and he had a severe stammer that made it quite impossible for him to speak clearly. The teenager had to attend lessons in public speaking and other speech therapies to help overcome his fear, but nothing really helped. However, his teacher, Mr. Matthew Burton, soon realized the only thing that made Musharaf comfortable speaking was music, Metro.co.uk reported.

With Mr. Matthew's encouragement, Musharaf delivered a speech in front of his classmates while listening to music. Later, he graduated in 2021 and became a YouTuber, but never forgot the impact Mr. Matthew had on him. Life continued, and his teacher eventually became the head teacher at the West Yorkshire school. He, too, remembered Musharaf, and 12 years later, he invited him to interact with the current students. "I’ve invited him back to speak to Year 11, to give them that bit of inspiration. That I was here. I was sitting in the seat you’re sitting in. I struggled with particular things, but showed that determination, that resilience, and look where I am now,'" the teacher said. Musharaf, a journalist and a keynote speaker, accepted the invitation, and that's how he returned to the place where his journey began. 

"My journey also began in this school, and I remember one day I realized that there was something wrong, and that wrong was that I couldn’t get these words out. After visiting the doctor’s surgery, I was told I couldn’t ever speak fluently, ever again," he said in his speech. Moreover, Musharaf said that growing up, he didn't have many options to choose from as a career. He said, "Any job that I applied for, and of course, being Asian, it was either being a doctor or a pharmacist. I thought, well, I can’t do either. I thought, if I couldn’t get these words out, I couldn’t achieve anything at all in life." He further praised his teacher, Mr. Matthew, and expressed his gratitude. Musharaf said, "Being in that classroom and having a teacher who put all that time and effort in making sure that you can speak and finally getting those words out, it was one of the best moments I could ever have or live. I guess for me, it was having a friend who was in my corner, having a person that really pushed me and believed in me. And I realized that if I actually put the time and the effort in, I can get these words out," he concludes, to a huge applause from the students in the room.

Musharaf perhaps never thought he could overcome his fear, but it was his teacher who believed in him, and that changed everything. Now this is what happens when you have a good teacher supporting you. In fact, Charlito D. Salazar Jr investigated the role of teacher support in alleviating mathematics anxiety among Grade 10 students and found that as teacher support increases, student anxiety tends to decrease. This is exactly what happened with Musharaf. Sure, music made him overcome his fear, but more than that, his teacher's unshakeable belief triggered his determination to overcome the obstacles in his way. 

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