More News

Remembering Gerry Goffin The Broadway musical Beautiful: The Carole King Story tells the story of Carole King’s career and songwriting collaboration with husband and lyricist Gerry Goffin. Read More	1965: Speech Pathology and Audiology Research Then and Now This article was written by Dr. Charles Van Riper in 1965. Van Riper's research remains valuable and important to consider more than 50 years later. Read More
On the Stage For more than a year, celebrated author Vince Vawter has been collaborating with Jim Wann on a stage show that will be of great interest to the stuttering community — Paperboy: A Musical. Read More	The Scale of My Stuttering Glenn McClure traveled to Antarctica to study changes in the ice — and to use the data he collected in a new musical project, the latest in McClure's history of combining math, music, and nature. Read More
Celebrity Spotlight: Steve Harvey While most of Steve Harvey's success stems from his skill at entertaining crowds, as a child his stutter made him terrified of speaking in front of audiences. Read More	A Bright, Shiny Object Research findings can sometimes serve as a bright, shiny object, distracting our attention from the methods of study. Read More
Journey of the Jaguar Long-time Stuttering Foundation friend Alan Rabinowitz is CEO of the only organization devoted exclusively to the conservation of the wild cat species. Read More	A Creative Ally Nino Ilievski is the creative genius behind the Stuttering Foundation's poignant public service ads. Read More
Dr. Mother Goose Teachers have intuitively known the secret for years: nursery and counting rhymes have an important place in the learning process. Read More	To My Stutter An open letter to a lifelong friend: For most of my life, you’ve been the friend I didn’t want, but couldn’t see my life without. Read More

Pages

Archived Articles

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Darren Sproles

Darren Sproles, now a running back for The Philadelphia Eagles, made history with the San Diego Chargers 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.

After that game, Sproles was approached more often for interviews, which exacerbated his stuttering. “I had to talk to the media a lot, and once they put a camera in my face that's when it got bad," Sproles said. 'I just had to work on it. I couldn't really stress about it, because that's just me."

Winston Churchill

Seeking to "remove Winston Churchill's stutter by second guessing the diagnosis" indicates neither a truthful retelling of history nor an informed opinion about a complex speech disorder, say experts in the field of speech-language pathology.

Recent news reports that quote Dr. John Mather, a Washington physician, as saying that Churchill's stutter "is a lie" brought adamant critical response from specialists in the field of stuttering and fluency disorders.

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.

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.

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.