Back to School with “The ABCs of Stuttering“

Stuttering Foundation Offers Free Streaming Video for Teachers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Greg Wilson
gregwilsonpr@gmail.com
571-239-7474

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (July 11, 2023) — When teachers hear a child stutter, their immediate reaction is one of concern mixed with a host of urgent questions:

Should I call on the student in class, or will that only make it worse?
How should I handle teasing and bullying by other students?
What should I do about reading aloud in class?

Just in time for the back-to-school season, the Stuttering Foundation is making their new, updated video, The ABCs of Stuttering, available for free on the video page of our website. Featuring children who stutter, it provides practical strategies teachers can use immediately to help children who stutter in the classroom.

Teachers will learn how stuttering varies, how it affects learning, and how students who stutter feel about stuttering. There are also lots of suggestions about what teachers can do to help with class participation, presentations, teasing and bullying, and how to support students who stutter. Students share openly about their own stuttering and what helps them with talking in the classroom.

“Even when I knew the answer, I wouldn’t raise my hand because I was worried about what others might think,” says Umberto, a teenager in the video. He adds that giving a classroom presentation on stuttering to the entire class has made him feel more at ease.

“At the beginning of the school year, I was embarrassed to read aloud in front of my teacher and friends because of my stuttering,” says Kate. She worked with her teacher to plan how she could practice first at home and then individually with her teacher.

“The courage and honesty of the children sharing their experiences helps teachers understand stuttering and the important role they play in supporting every student who stutters,” says Ellen Kelly, PhD, of The Stuttering Foundation and co-producer of the video. She suggests teachers take the time to get to know students who stutter and help make their classrooms welcoming environments for them to communicate and learn.

Educator Katie Lenell says, “This video is an excellent resource for teachers at all grade levels. I now feel more at ease having a child who stutters in my classroom.”

For additional free resources, call 800-992-9392 or visit www.stutteringhelp.org.

About the Stuttering Foundation

Malcolm Fraser, a successful businessman who struggled with stuttering, established the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation in 1947 and endowed it throughout his lifetime. The Foundation provides free online resources at StutteringHelp.org for people who stutter and their families, as well as support for research into the causes of stuttering. Visit www.StutteringHelp.org.

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CELEBRITY FOCUS

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.

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.

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.