Stuttering Foundation Encouraged by Neurology Study

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

Stuttering Foundation Encouraged by Neurology Study

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 8, 2012) — The Stuttering Foundation (www.StutteringHelp.org) responds to a new study published in today’s online issue of Neurology, "Neural anomaly and reorganization in speakers who stutter:"

“It is our experience that a competent therapist can help a person who stutters become fluent in one week. That is not the challenge; the goal in stuttering therapy is staying fluent - taking what you learn in the therapy setting and transferring it into the real world and maintaining that level of fluency over time,” said Jane Fraser, president of the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation.

“Whenever we can show that physical changes we make through therapy actually affect the brain in a positive way, it is very reinforcing. Change doesn’t just happen in a vacuum. However, we must again ask ourselves this important question ... do these changes in the brain hold up over time?

“Without a doubt, this study opens the door to new research into long term changes in the brain that would reinforce fluency. For that, we are very encouraged.”

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Foundation Spokesperson Jane Fraser

Jane Fraser is president of The Stuttering Foundation and co-author of If Your Child Stutters: A Guide for Parents, 8th edition. She is also vice president of Action for Stammering Children, the Michael Palin Centre, in London.

Ms. Fraser is available for interviews by contacting Greg Wilson, 571-239-7474 or email: gregwilsonpr@gmail.com.

About the Foundation 

Malcolm Fraser, a successful businessman who stuttered, went on to establish and endow the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation in 1947. The Stuttering Foundation provides a toll-free helpline, 800-992-9392, and free online resources on its Website, www.StutteringHelp.org, including services, referrals and support to people who stutter and their families, as well as support for research into the causes of stuttering. Please visit us at www.StutteringHelp.org.

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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.

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