More News | Stuttering Foundation: A Nonprofit Organization Helping Those Who Stutter

November 20, 2017
Remembering Mel Tillis
The Stuttering Foundation wishes to extend to the family of Mel Tillis their most sincere condolences and prayers at the news of the passing of the country music legend at age 85 on Sunday, November 19.
October 31, 2017
Ron Harper
Professional basketball player Ron Harper, now retired, grew up playing the game in Dayton, Ohio. While by the end of his career he had won five NBA Championships, as a high school freshman and sophomore he was cut from his varsity basketball team.
October 31, 2017
Remembering Joe Fulcher
It is with much sadness and a heavy heart that the Stuttering Foundation announces the passing of Joe Fulcher, an integral part of the Stuttering Foundation since 1984.
October 30, 2017
Eric Roberts
American actor Eric Roberts boasts a successful career, spanning 40 years and including roles in film, television, and theater. As a child, he was immersed in the world of acting.
October 27, 2017
Jeffrey Blitz
Jeffrey Blitz is an American director, producer and screenwriter. His first film, Spellbound, a documentary following competitors in the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee, earned him an Academy Award nomination in 2003.
September 29, 2017
Steve Harvey
Although Steve Harvey was terrified of public speaking as a child, he knew he was funny and was determined to show his talent to others.
September 22, 2017
Harvey Keitel
While Harvey Keitel has spoken to large audiences from both the stage and the screen, as a child he often had trouble expressing himself due to his stutter. “As a kid I was told to shush,” he says. “And as a result it’s taken me a lifetime to be able to speak.”
September 19, 2017
Peggy Lipton
As a child, Peggy Lipton’s introversion was only worsened by her severe stutter. The actress often had trouble saying her own name. It wasn’t until she embarked on her acting career that she was able to find a safe haven from her speech impediment.
September 18, 2017
Kendrick Lamar
Rather than let his stutter get in the way of his success, rapper Kendrick Lamar claims it actually encouraged his musical career.
September 15, 2017
Nicole Kidman
While Nicole Kidman has appeared in dozens of films, grossing more than $4 billion worldwide, she describes herself as being exceptionally shy, a circumstance that was only worsened by her childhood stutter.

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CELEBRITY FOCUS

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.

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.

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.

Bob Love

Bob Love has dreamt about being a great public speaker since his early days in Bastrop Louisiana, even though, as a young man, he could barely put two words together, let alone speak a full sentence.

In spite of his severe stuttering disability, Bob Love, the son of a sharecropper, rose to become a Chicago Bulls NBA superstar, whose records were eventually surpassed by Michael Jordan. Throughout his entire athletic career, Bob Love kept his stuttering a secret from the fans who adored him, thinking he could do his “talking” on the basketball court.

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.