#NSAW2026: The Stuttering Foundation—The World’s Most Trusted Resource on Stuttering

Reaching More than 181 Countries and Territories

• 3 Things You Can Do to Spread the Word About Stuttering

To mark National Stuttering Awareness Week (May 11-17), the Stuttering Foundation, the world’s most trusted resource on stuttering, is focusing on its outreach to more than 181 countries and territories around the world.

Founded in 1947 by Malcolm Fraser as the Speech Foundation of America, today’s Stuttering Foundation, through its myriad communications avenues, reaches all corners of the globe with resources, help and hope for those who stutter.

Books, brochures and pamphlets were first available to those who wrote in to the Memphis, Tenn., Foundation headquarters requesting help. Later, a toll-free telephone number (still in use today: 1- 800-992-9392) made reaching out in the U.S. free and easy.

The rapid global proliferation of information, however, came with the launch of its website 26 years ago, and subsequent content marketing efforts on social channels, such as Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest over the past two decades.

Resources with global reach include:

Free e-books, including popular titles: “Self-Therapy for the Stutterer,” “Advice to Those Who Stutter,” and “Sometimes I Just Stutter.”
Translations of materials into 45 foreign languages reaching more than 20 million people.
Podcast series in its 8^th season, and monthly Virtual Learning sessions (archived as streaming videos), both hosted by Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF.
YouTube channel, with recent additions including the “Advice to Those Who Stutter—Audiobook,” “Autoterapia para Aquellos que Tartamudean” and “¡Ayuda! Mi hijo tartamudea”

“I remember our first inquiries from Canada and Europe back in the day, when we began exploring the best ways to ship our materials internationally,” recalled Stuttering Foundation President Jane Fraser, who has led the Foundation for more than 40 years. “Now, millions of people from around the world have daily access our materials. We work hard to reach people where they are with resources they need.”

Posted May 7, 2026

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.

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.

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.

Carly Simon

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