More News

It’s Time for This to Stop
Stuttering is the only disability that people still laugh at — too often in the face of a person struggling to speak fluently.
Stuttering in a Fluency World
When I was 18, speech therapist John Seamon, told me, “Don’t let stuttering control you. You control it.”
The Stutterer's Apprentice
At just 17 years old, Akiva Splaver wrote his first book, which is already a No. 1 best seller on Amazon.
One World, Many Voices
The inaugural Joint World Congress will be held July 13-16, 2018, in Hiroshima, Japan. Be sure to visit the Stuttering Foundation booth!
Workshop on Cluttering in Italy
There will be a workshop on cluttering with Yvonne Van Zaalen on Sept. 28-30, 2018, in Turin, Italy.
Stuttering Can't Stop You
It all started at the age of 6. My mother thought my speech pattern was due to me mimicking my cousin and brother, who had a stutter, too.
Stutter Love
The tale of “Austin and Shelly Forever” sounds like your typical vaguely romantic love story...
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.
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.
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.

Pages

CELEBRITY FOCUS

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.

Kenyon Martin

Kenyon Martin, the basketball sensation who was named to the NBA’s All Star Team in 2004, joins other famous people who stutter in a new brochure. The brochure - which unfolds into a small poster - is available free of charge from The Stuttering Foundation.

The poster is intended to give children and adults who stutter inspiration as they grapple with their speech disorder.

Carly Simon

Carly Simon began stuttering severely when she was eight years old.

John Melendez

He is a talented musician, actor, and comedian. Listen to a podcast.

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.