Get you up to speed: “Silent Struggles: My Five Speech Impediments Made Me Stop Talking at School”
Reece Harrison, a young advisor for Doncaster Council, won the national Tesco Education Award after overcoming challenges with autism and speech impediments through support from The King’s Trust.
Reece Harrison, a young advisor for Doncaster Council, emphasised the need for better SEN support, noting his personal experience with inadequate help during his schooling.
Reece Harrison, now a young advisor for Doncaster Council, will receive the national Tesco Education Award today at the Royal Albert Hall.
What we know so far
Reece Harrison, a 20-year-old from Doncaster, has achieved remarkable personal growth after overcoming challenges associated with autism and speech impediments. His journey took a significant turn when he enrolled in a special educational needs (SEN) school, where he participated in The King’s Trust Achieve Programme, designed to enhance communication skills and boost confidence.
Reece credits the programme for transforming his life, allowing him to explore his passion for IT through projects in coding and app development. He noted, “It was really good because I was planning stuff and doing activities in small groups, which was very talkative and great for building up my confidence from the inside.”
Having successfully completed the programme, Reece is now contributing to his community as a young advisor for Doncaster Council. He is particularly focused on improving support for SEN pupils, stating, “At the end of the day, if I’d had the right help, I probably wouldn’t have needed to go to a special school.”
Reece’s accomplishments were recently recognised when he won the national Tesco Education Award, following his success in the England leg of the competition. During a surprise announcement in WTX’s London offices, he expressed his joy and eagerness to share the news with his parents.
The awards ceremony, hosted by Ant and Dec, will take place at the Royal Albert Hall, marking yet another milestone in Reece’s inspiring journey.
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‘I had 5 speech impediments at school – so I just stopped talking’ | News UK
Taking a seat in WTX’s offices in London, 20-year-old Reece Harrison is chatty, confident and very much looking forward to fish and chips in the work canteen.
It’s a far cry from what life was like for him just a few years ago, during his early days at school.
From a young age, Reece, who lives in Doncaster, struggled in lessons due to his autism and speech impediments, which caused his self-esteem to plummet and had a damaging impact on his education.
‘I had five speech impediments at one stage,’ he tells WTX. ‘It really affected my confidence as no one really understood me. And when you don’t think people can understand you, you don’t really feel like talking.’
Although Reece found an outlet in MMA – something he ‘still loves’ – and enjoyed going to the local youth club run by his mum, life in the classroom was very difficult for him. ‘I really had a hard time, especially with English. There just wasn’t any support in place to help me.’
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It wasn’t until Reece eventually moved to a special educational needs (SEN) school called Stone Hill in Doncaster, that things began to turn around for him.
Not only did the school offer flexibility around his visits to a speech therapist and medical appointments, but in Year Nine, they also enrolled him in The King’s Trust Achieve Programme, to help Reece with his communication skills.
Aimed at young people aged 11-19, the programme involved a personal development course to help improve confidence and life skills. As Reece had a passion for IT, he worked on projects that included computer coding, marketing and app development.
‘It was really good because I was planning stuff and doing activities in small groups, which was very talkative and great for building up my confidence from the inside,’ he explains. ‘As part of the course we had to do presentations, which was another way to help me become more comfortable with speaking.’
Today, while a slightly unique pattern structure remains in Reece’s sentences, he speaks with great confidence – and quickly. Not because he wants the conversation to be over, but because he has a lot to say.
Listening to him talk, it’s hard to believe that he might never have put his hand up in a classroom or shared his thoughts within a group. But such is the power of The King’s Trust.
Established 50 years ago in 1976, Prince Charles used £7,400 of his Royal Navy severance pay to fund community initiatives through what was then known as The Prince’s Trust, with the idea to help disadvantaged young people in the UK, gain skills, find employment and improve their lives.
Over the last five decades, more than 1.3 million young people have been supported by The Trust, while 100,000 young people outside the UK have also been helped in the past decade.
Being part of the programme even led Reece to meeting King Charles at Apple’s London headquarters in December 2024, where he showcased an app he had developed as part of a group.
‘I met with Tim Cook (Apple’s CEO) and the King, which was really cool,’ he remembers. ‘I really liked showing them my work. I could never have believed when I was younger that I would be doing anything like that or talking with the King.’
The impact on children
According to the charity Speech and Language UK, 1 in 5 children struggle with talking and understanding words, which can have a huge impact on their future without the correct support.
Their report Listening to unheard children, found that this can mean they are:
Twice as likely to be unemployed as an adult
6 times more likely to be behind in English at age 11
11 times more likely to be behind in maths at age 11
More likely to struggle with their mental health
For more information, visit Speech and Language UK here.
Reece completed the programme after five years and has since left school to enter the world of politics. Having volunteered for his local Youth Council for two years, he now earns a living as young advisor for Doncaster Council, helping young people in the area, from free school meals and activities for children in the half term, to tackling crime, health and internet safety.
Understandably, Reece is especially passionate about supporting SEN children.
‘There isn’t a lot of space in special needs schools, so I want to make sure all schools are supporting SEN pupils properly in the first place. At the end of the day, if I’d had the right help, I probably wouldn’t have needed to go to a special school.’
Every year the King’s Trust holds an awards ceremony to honour just some of the amazing young people who have used their programmes to turn their lives around.
Impressed by the amazing progress Reece had made at school, Sarah Pearce a King’s Trust youth supporter worker and Achieve programme lead at Stone Hill school nominated him for the Tesco Education Award. Earlier this year, he discovered he had won the England leg, and would be going up against fellow winners from Scotland, Wales and Ireland for a chance to win the national prize.
As the media partner for the national Tesco Education Award, WTX invited Reece to our offices last month to talk about his win. However, that wasn’t the only reason we asked him to come to London – we also wanted to surprise him with the amazing news that he had also won the national award.
On hearing that he would be heading to the Royal Albert Hall to receive his prize in the star-studded ceremony hosted by Ant and Dec, which is taking place today, a beaming Reece told WTX that the first people he was going to tell were his mum and dad, adding, ‘It feels great – I am very happy to know that I have won!’