He visited many specialists, but there was never a permanent cure and his stutter kept catching up with him again and again.

But now, at the age of 39, the Gungahlin resident believes he has overcome the issue, but not necessarily the stutter, after five sporadic years learning a technique based on diaphragmatic breathing.

The McGuire Programme is a stammering treatment course founded in 1994 by Netherlands-based sports psychologist Dave McGuire who, at age 45 and a lifetime with a severe stammer, brought together a method based on an operatic breathing technique (called costal breathing) and a traditional psychological approach known as “non-avoidance”.

Within five years, the program was being taught in the UK, Ireland, Norway, Holland, Australia, NZ,  South Africa, the US and more lately Mexico, Spain, India and Dubai.

Back in Canberra, Ross aims to be an eloquent and effective communicator.

“It’s about using my stutter as a strength, not a weakness,” he says.

Regional director of the McGuire Programme Australia and NZ Stu Dow says the program looks at physical and psychological causes.

“There’s no defined version of what stuttering is,” Stu says.

And he emphasises that there’s no cure for stuttering, either.

“A lot of the actual issue is the avoidance and changing of words, which build up fear and anxiety,” he says.

Ross would go to great lengths to avoid saying certain words.

“I wanted to appear fluent and wanted to sound as though I had overcome the stutter,” Ross says.

If Ross was ordering food and the item was difficult to say, he would point to it or describe where it was on the menu using easier words.

Word substitution made it difficult during job interviews because what Ross was saying would appear out of context.

“It makes you look very messy and not coherent,” Ross says.

With little success in job interviews, Ross then turned to truck driving, even though he had a computer science degree.

In 2008, Ross finally put his degree to use when offered a graduate position in the public service, but he still had troubles with his communication skills.

“I always had difficulty using a phone and talking to people,” he says.

“About four to five years ago I reached a point where I would be avoiding using the phone and talking to people unless I absolutely had to.

“I would find that when I would be socialising in new settings it would be easier to have a few drinks.”

Ross wanted to overcome the issues that arose from having a stutter. He wanted to rid himself of the frustration and emotions it produced.

“I wanted to be comfortable with talking in situations, whether it’s speech with my boss or on the phone with family or friends,” he says.

Even though Ross was surrounded by supportive people, such as his partner of nine years, his parents and friends, it was still not enough to compensate for the everyday anxieties of living with a stutter.

At this stage Ross came across a support group in Canberra run by the McGuire Programme. He then attended some of its courses in Sydney, which push attendees out of their comfort zones and help them overcome anxiety before they tackle speech.

For the first time Ross felt as though he was improving.

“There was a realisation that I was still emotional about my speech and was only practising half-heartedly,” he says.

“If you want something good, you need to work for it.”

For Ross, this means consistently applying the techniques and not substituting or avoiding words.

More information at mcguireprogramme.com