Hide | Stuttering Foundation: A Nonprofit Organization Helping Those Who Stutter

Updated Research Data on Preschool Children

The Stuttering Foundation has kept accurate data on the calls it has received to date from concerned parents or family members of 18,260 preschool children who are reported to be stuttering.

Stuttering Foundation Celebrates National Stuttering Awareness Week

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Greg Wilson
greg@curleycompany.com
571-239-7474

10 Things You Can Do To Help Spread the Word

National Stuttering Awareness Week is May 9-15.

Speech-Language Pathologists from Around the World Attend Intensive Workshop on Stuttering

For Immediate Release
Contact: Greg Wilson, 571-239-7474
greg@curleycompany.com

BOSTON (June 13, 2022) — Twenty-one speech-language pathologists from around the world were chosen to attend an intensive workshop on stuttering therapy.

The workshop, Using Cognitive Approaches with People Who Stutter, was held in Boston from June 13-17, 2022. It was co-sponsored by The Stuttering Foundation and Boston University.

The Darwin Family

Generations of Genius and Stuttering

Over the years, many Celebrity Corner articles in our newsletter have profiled people who stutter who have family members who also stutter, which of course is a strong testament to the genetic basis of stuttering. For instance, Lewis Carroll had ten siblings, eight of whom stuttered into adulthood.

Boris Karloff

He became famous for his high-profile role as Frankenstein in Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939).

Stuttering Foundation Celebrates National Stuttering Awareness Week

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Greg Wilson
greg@curleycompany.com
571-239-7474

Remembering Bill Withers

Bill Withers has been a friend for many years and is on our list of Famous People Who Stutter. Like so many great singers and songwriters such as B.B. King and Carly Simon, Bill stuttered. And just as they did, he turned to singing to express himself through music because the spoken word was so tough for him. He will live on forever through his incredible songs.

-Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation

Stuttering Foundation Celebrates Teacher Appreciation Week

Memphis, Tenn. (May 6, 2020) — For more than seven decades, the Stuttering Foundation has worked hand-in-hand with teachers to help them understand the needs of the child who stutters, both in the classroom and on the playground. By providing information, such as handbooks, FAQs, tips, videos and classroom presentations, the Foundation offers free, easy-to use resources for every teacher and school.

Social Distancing: 10 Tips for Better Communication

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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CELEBRITY FOCUS

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.

Byron Pitts

Byron Pitts has brought much attention to stuttering with his memoir, Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life’s Challenges, released in September, 2009. The book not only details his speech difficulties, but also his illiteracy until age 12 and his unstable family life. Pitts overcame the odds to become the chief national correspondent with ABC News.

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 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.