Orlando Convention a Magical Time

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association held its November convention in Orlando, and the Stuttering Foundation was there to spread the word about stuttering to the nearly 14,000 attendees.

Magic doesn’t just happen at Disney World. This was a special time for the Stuttering Foundation as well. Nearly all DVDs, books, brochures, and T-shirts sold out by the second day of the three-day convention. At one point, additional materials had to be shipped overnight to restock the booth.

“We had record sales in a record time,” said Ron Shafer, who staffed the booth.

The books, DVDs, and brochures were sold below cost to attendees. Thousands of copies of the new DVD Kids Who Stutter: Parents Speak and posters were given away to help spread the word about stuttering.

Top sellers this year were the new DVDs For Kids, By Kids: All Grown Up, Using Williams’ Normal Talking Approach to Help Children Make Speech Change, Stuttering: A Clinical Review of the Evidence, and Helping Children Change Thoughts & Feelings About Communication, and of course, the very popular T-shirt that says, “Stuttering is OK because what I say is worth repeating.”

A big thank you to our volunteers: Joan Babin, Anthony Buhr, Courtney Byrd, Kristin Chmela, Da Hye Choi, Susan Cochrane, Joseph Donaher, Zoi Gkalitsiou, Sheryl Gottwald, Jack Henderson, Melissa Jensen, Robin Jones, Ellen Kelly, Elaine Kelman, Kim Krieger, Judith Kuster, Megann McGill, Sharon Millard, Laura Miller, Alison Nicholas, Katerina Ntourou, Charlie Osborne, Diane Parris Constantino, Nancy Ribbler, Steffi Schopick, Kathleen Scaler Scott, Rosalee Shenker, Vivian Sisskin, Maggie Shafer, Ed Reed, and Rita Thurman.

From the Winter 2015 Newsletter

CELEBRITY FOCUS

John Stossel

John Stossel is one of the most recognized and articulate reporters today. However, he once considered giving up his broadcasting career because of his stuttering.

“Fear of stuttering can easily become worse than the stuttering itself,” observed Stossel. “The idea that I’m on television and making speeches is still a shock to me sometimes.”

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.

Bruce Willis

While the world knows Bruce Willis as an A-list actor, few know that he struggled with stuttering throughout his first 20 years.

Walter Bruce Willis was born in 1955 in West Germany to his German mother, Marlene, and his American GI father, David Willis. The family settled in David’s hometown of Penns Grove, New Jersey in 1957, and the couple has three other children.

Dave Taylor

Dave Taylor has been on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter for many years, but probably few people know all of the unique accomplishments of this former hockey great who was born on December 4, 1955, in Levack, Ontario.

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.