PwS in Greece Now Have a Voice

By Sillogos Travlismou

In May 2011, a group of PwS in Greece took the initiative to form an association for Stuttering. This initiative came from the need to support PwS and the need to create awareness to the general public.

The luck of awareness is manifested in the way other people see us. They tend to think that PwS are people of low mental capacity. Unfortunately in Greece there is no institution or legislation to protect and defend PwS. In schools and other educational institutions the awareness and knowledge of the educators is vestigial. Children that stutter should have equal treatment from their teachers as well as from their peers, but this rarely happens. Unequal treatment is found in all aspects of the life of a PwS.

Seeing that, we had the need to give psychological and emotional support to PwS, we felt the need of unity and support between us and the need to gain knowledge on stuttering.

That was how the association “Initiative of PwS” was created. It’s goals are set in the memorandum and they are:

The support and the defense of PwS rights
The distribution of information about stuttering for children (and their parents) – teens – adults who stutter.
Create and increase public awareness about stuttering
Inform PwS about all the professional institutions and associations that provide specialized help and support
Communication and co-operation with other associations of PwS world wide
Collaboration with associations, organizations and institutions for the promotion and support of the rights of PwS
Increase awareness and distribute information about stuttering to health professionals and educators

To contact Initiative of PwS, e-mail sillogostravlismou @yahoo.gr

-From the Winter 2012 Newsletter

CELEBRITY FOCUS

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.

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.

Alan Rabinowitz

Alan Rabinowitz, Ph.D., who passed away in 2018, was an explorer, wildlife conservationist, and author. He established the Hukawng Valley Tiger Reserve in northern Myanmar, which is about the size of the state of Vermont.

His love for animals began when he was very young.

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.

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.