Blogs

August 14, 2018

Philly Workshop Life-Changing for SLPs Across the Globe

I had the privilege of attending a 5-day Stuttering Foundation workshop in Philadelphia aimed at improving the clinical skills of speech-language pathologists when working with young people how stutter.

August 13, 2018

Training the Therapists

For more than 70 years, the Stuttering Foundation has provided expert information and help to the global stuttering community.

February 5, 2018

A Look Back

Vince Vawter, author of "Paperboy,” shared his personal messages to individuals who stutter, parents of children who stutter and speech clinicians.

January 5, 2018

2017: The Year in Review

As 2018 begins, I take a look back at some of the pivotal moments over the Stuttering Foundation’s 70^th year in 2017.

October 25, 2017

Stuttering requires patience and adaptation

For many of my fellow people who stutter, the feeling of disappointment, numbness and simultaneous relief after a tough presentation is all too familiar.

August 30, 2017

Creating Safe Schools for Young People Who Stutter

If children feel safe, they can take risks, ask questions, make mistakes, learn to trust, share their feelings, and grow. - Alfie Kohn (Author)

May 12, 2017

The Dragon’s Scale

Happy National Stuttering Awareness Week everyone! National Stuttering Awareness Week is an annual event in the United States held in the second week of May which celebrates, educates and spreads the word about stuttering.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

Jack Paar

While Jack Paar is among the most prominent of the entertainers on the Stuttering Foundation’s list of Famous People Who Stutter, he deserves special recognition as he was among the first to openly address his stuttering in public. As host of The Tonight Show from 1957-1962, he spoke of his difficulties as a stuttering child and teenager, giving hope to young people.