OCCASIONALLY TV has that wonderful ability to make us sit up and appreciate those things in life that we so often take for granted.

Last night's Beat It on Five was a moving hour-long documentary following 13-year-old Cameron's attempts to overcome a severe stammer.

Teenagers have enough problems coping with all the changes in their lives as it is. Yet Cameron displayed such courage and openess in allowing the cameras into his life.

For most of us, the ability to communicate with one another is something that we don't even need to think about. But Cameron's stammer - and it was a pretty bad one - meant that every word he spoke required serious effort and concentration.

The programme brought home the difficulties of living with a disability which to many, ill-informed people can be a source of amusement.

Can you imagine what it must be like to dread having to pick up the phone or be asked a question?

As we followed his progress, using various techniques to improve his speech patterns, I suspect the entire TV audience tuning was willing him to succeed.

Showing remarkable resilience and no little humour, you could see Cameron visibly growing in self-confidence as he went on.

By the end, when he got through an entire sentence without hesitation you could almost hear the cheers from living rooms across the country.