Harrison Craig wins The Voice – Australia! | Stuttering Foundation: A Nonprofit Organization Helping Those Who Stutter

Blog by Voon Pang
June 20, 2013

Two months ago, Harrison Craig wowed us with his rendition of Broken Vow at the blind auditions of the second season of The Voice – Australia. Fast forward ahead to the June 17 and he was crowned the winner of the second season of The Voice.

Check out Harrison’s interview below, moments after he was declared the winner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wweGX4UHkQ

While I haven’t been following The Voice in New Zealand, a mum of an 8-year-old client I work with have. I decided to show them the clip of Harrison’s audition about a month ago and since then they have been enamoured by his singing talent, charm and presence. It was also a huge turning point in the therapeutic journey for this boy and his mum as prior to watching the video we had a stumbling block in therapy, where he felt so bad about stuttering that confronting and ‘playing around ’ with stuttering was too hard and embarrassing. Since then, this child has confidently voluntarily stuttered in the clinic and the level of shame and embarrassment has reduced significantly… To the point where he will use ‘bounces’ or ‘stretches’ with other people in the clinic!

The catalyst for change can sometimes be straightforward, much like the example above where one successful snippet of a session can spill into future successes in future sessions. Other times it can be unpredictable and setbacks are encountered before rising above challenges. For those who are brave and persistent, taking a chance can reap ultimate the reward. It’s the Lazaro’s and Harrison’s of the world as that remind us to take those chances and to pursue our dreams, whether we stutter or not.

The Sydney Morning Herald interviewed Harrison following his win and Harrison was quoted as saying that his stutter and confidence has improved since appearing on The Voice.

"It's (the stutter) not something that bothers or annoys me, it's just part of my life and it will take time to get over, but I will get there," he said.

Reminding ourselves that change takes time and we ‘will get there’ is something that this 18 year old has obviously learnt through his stuttering journey. Congratulations, Harrison, you are an inspiration to us all!

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Marilyn Monroe

From Edward S. Herrington's letter to Southcoasttoday.com

I am writing in response to "The importance of voice" (May 29), which mentioned that famous actor James Earl Jones struggled with stuttering. Another famous voice that you cited was the trademark breathy voice of Marilyn Monroe; however, you did not make mention of the fact that Marilyn Monroe also struggled with stuttering at various points in her life, sometimes very painfully.

Mel Tillis

Mel Tillis, born Lonnie Melvin Tillis, was an influential figure in country music, both as a songwriter and a performer. His journey to fame was marked by overcoming personal challenges, including a stutter that he turned into a defining part of his public persona.

Winston Churchill

Seeking to "remove Winston Churchill's stutter by second guessing the diagnosis" indicates neither a truthful retelling of history nor an informed opinion about a complex speech disorder, say experts in the field of speech-language pathology.

Recent news reports that quote Dr. John Mather, a Washington physician, as saying that Churchill's stutter "is a lie" brought adamant critical response from specialists in the field of stuttering and fluency disorders.

Lewis Carroll

The recent Disney version of Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice in Wonderland, garnered a great deal of media hype. Even though the mainstream media has not made mention that Carroll was a person who stuttered, his family history gives credence to the discovery of the genetic link to stuttering. Carroll was born to parents who were first cousins; almost all of their eleven children, three girls and seven boys, struggled with stuttering past childhood.

Bob Love

Bob Love has dreamt about being a great public speaker since his early days in Bastrop Louisiana, even though, as a young man, he could barely put two words together, let alone speak a full sentence.

In spite of his severe stuttering disability, Bob Love, the son of a sharecropper, rose to become a Chicago Bulls NBA superstar, whose records were eventually surpassed by Michael Jordan. Throughout his entire athletic career, Bob Love kept his stuttering a secret from the fans who adored him, thinking he could do his “talking” on the basketball court.