Blogs

October 22, 2012

Happy International Stuttering Awareness Day Everyone!

One of my good SLP mates (and person who stutters) posted on his Facebook the perfect summary International Stuttering Awareness Day by saying “People who stutter have a voice, and have something to say. I like to think they were put on this earth to teach the world how to listen.”

October 10, 2012

15th ISAD Online Conference

For all of you who haven’t taken part in this year’s International Stuttering Awareness Day Online Conference, we’re at the halfway point and there is still plenty of time to post comments and questions to the authors of this year’s papers.

September 26, 2012

Commentary on SNL’s Drill Sergeant Skit

The ongoing discussion in the stuttering world about Saturday Night Live’s drill sergeant skit has been interesting to watch from afar. It was only last week that I got to view the segment online courtesy of someone posting the video on YouTube.

September 18, 2012

From Being Open About Stuttering to Attending Camp Shout Out!

To all those who read my last blog entry, I’m sorry for not posting sooner. After my piece on being open about stuttering, I was fortunate to fly out to Muskegon, Michigan (on a 20 hour flight!) to attend Camp Shout Out. For me it was the perfect opportunity to see everyone be open about their stuttering in a safe and supportive environment.

August 6, 2012

Being Open About Stuttering: Our New Blog

As the Stuttering Foundation of America celebrates sixty-five years of helping those who stutter, it is timely to acknowledge one man’s journey to being open about his stuttering. In 1947, Malcolm Fraser met with Dr Charles Van Riper to discuss setting up a nonprofit charitable organisation to help others who stuttered, spurred on from his own personal and often painful experience of stuttering.

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CELEBRITY FOCUS

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.

Kenyon Martin

Kenyon Martin, the basketball sensation who was named to the NBA’s All Star Team in 2004, joins other famous people who stutter in a new brochure. The brochure - which unfolds into a small poster - is available free of charge from The Stuttering Foundation.

The poster is intended to give children and adults who stutter inspiration as they grapple with their speech disorder.

Ken Venturi

As much of the nation watches the U.S. Open Golf Championship, it is impossible not to think about our late friend Ken Venturi. Ken overcame many challenges to win the Open at Congressional in 1964 and go on to become the voice of golf for more than three decades.

However, Ken faced no bigger obstacle than stuttering. Ken Venturi was a champion to those who stutter, going out of his way to share his personal experience when consulted by a colleague, friend, or child who stutters.

King George

In November 2010, worldwide movie audiences were presented with a most interesting and unusual movie release with The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth as King George VI and Helena Bonham Carter as his wife Elizabeth.

Unfortunately, history may have forgotten the courageous and inspiring story of Prince Albert who stuttered badly and never dreamed that he would ever be king when his older brother, King Edward VIII, abruptly abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee.

Darren Sproles

Darren Sproles, a former player for The Philadelphia Eagles, the New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers, made history in 2007 when he became the first player in NFL history to return a kickoff and a punt for his first two NFL touchdowns in the same game. In 2021, he was selected to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.