Blogs

February 13, 2017

Recruiting Fluent Allies

I begin this blog post reflecting on opposing events which have prompted a call for the recruitment of allies for people who stutter. Last year, it was heartening to see that the theme from the International Stuttering Awareness Day Online Conference was "Stuttering Pride: Respect. Dignity. Recognition."

August 31, 2016

Making Changes Over Time

This is a story about how a young man’s stuttering journey and his road to effective communication and self-acceptance as a person who stutters.

June 27, 2016

Ben's Speech

Working with young people who stutter has taught me many things. One thing which never ceases to amaze me is the amount of courage young people exhibit when talking and stuttering. Having a voice in a world where time pressure is imminent and there is an expectation for fluent communication can make talking difficult.

May 9, 2016

Paying it Forward by Raising Awareness About Stuttering

This week, during National Stuttering Awareness Week, pay it forward for people who stutter by talking about stuttering. We know that talking about stuttering, educating others about what stuttering is and what it isn’t, and celebrating stuttering is important. But how important is it really?

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March 22, 2016

Stuttering in the Media

We’re almost a quarter of the way into 2016 and the spotlight on stuttering has shone brightly. Here is a recap of some of the events over the past few months which have got us talking.

December 28, 2015

Olly and Kate’s Story – Stuttering Therapy in the Preschool Years

I have been fortunate to have many teachers in my career as a specialist speech language pathologist. None of the formal learning can surpass the everyday interactions I have with the families I work with.

October 20, 2015

International Stuttering Awareness Day – October 22nd

International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD) is Oct. 22 and this year’s theme is “Spread the Word – Education, Cooperation, Communication."

July 6, 2015

UISPEAKS: Empowering Teens Who Stutter

I observed a weeklong residential program for teenagers who stutter. This unique experience demonstrated the importance of individualising stuttering therapy, as opposed to sticking to a strict therapeutic program where all participants were expected to work on the same goals.

May 18, 2015

Therapy for Preschool Children Who Stutter and Government Policy

UPDATE: As we approach the end of Stuttering Awareness Week, news broke that Speech Pathology Australia’s (SPA) government proposal to reimburse only one type of stuttering treatment has been declined by the Australian Government.

March 9, 2015

Problem with “One Size Fits All”

Speech Pathology Australia’s proposal to the Australian government to provide reimbursement could be helpful in providing affordable treatment for pre-schoolers who stutter. However, I believe that the negatives outweigh the positives.

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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.”

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.

Bill Walton

From BillWalton.com

Thank you for your interest in my life long problem with my speech and communication skills. I was a very shy and reserved young man who could not speak at all without severely stuttering until I was 28 years old. Always a success in the classroom and on the basketball court, I took refuge in the things that I did well as a youngster. A straight A student, my athletic abilities covered the deficiencies that limited my overall growth and development. The game of basketball was my religion, the gym my church. It was a convenient way of avoiding my responsibilities of developing my human relation skills.

When I was 28, a chance encounter at a social event with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Glickman completely changed my life in so many ways that things have never been the same since, nor have they ever been better. That day, in a very brief, private conversation (one way, mind you, since I literally could not speak at the time) Marty explained, patiently and concisely, that talking, communicating was a skill not a gift or a birthright and that like any skill, whether it be sports, music, business or whatever, needed to be developed over a lifetime of hard work, discipline, organization and practice. Marty gave me some simple tips that day and then encouraged me to take those keys and apply them to methods of learning that I had received from the special teachers that I had come across in my life, particularly the 6 Hall of Fame basketball coaches that I had played for throughout my career. The beginning of my whole new life was as simple as that. No gimmicks, tricks or shortcuts. Just the realization that with some help, guidance and a lot of hard work that I too could do what seemed so easy, simple and natural to everyone else, yet seemed impossibly out of my reach and comprehension.

Frank Wolf

This Virginian congressman has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981. The longtime supporter of the Stuttering Foundation drew national attention to childhood stuttering in 2006 when he submitted an article about Tiger Woods from the SFA newsletter to the Congressional Record. The congressman is featured in the Stuttering Foundation's Famous People Who Stutter brochure.

Bill Withers

While Bill Withers has long been on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter, many people probably didn’t realize he stuttered. He passed away on March 30, 2020.

Born in 1938 in Slab Fork, W.V., Withers was the youngest of six children. When his father died when Withers was small, he was raised by his mother and grandmother, both of whom worked as domestics.