Hide | Stuttering Foundation: A Nonprofit Organization Helping Those Who Stutter

Paying Tribute to Aussie Columnist and Friend Jane Fraser

It’s quite interesting to read about someone who shares your very same name, and quite sad when that person passes away. Today we learned of the

Libraries Put Stuttering Resources on Display

Many libraries across the country sent us pictures of their displays for National Stuttering Awareness Week. Thank you for helping us spread the word about stuttering.

Eddie's story

An excerpt from Sometimes I Just Stutter

Former Destiny’s Child star Michelle Williams topped the charts with the group’s hit song, “Survivor” in 2001. The song, which encourages people not to give up, is an inspiring message to others like Michelle who have dealt with stuttering.

Western Workshop Moves To Forest Grove

Once again, Susan Hamilton, Jennifer Watson, and Ellen Reuler conclude that this year’s workshop was a success! The three joined forces for this five-day event, Diagnosis and Treatment of Children and Adolescents Who Stutter. This year the event moved from Portland to Forest Grove, Oregon and was co-sponsored by Pacific University and the Stuttering Foundation.

Eastern Workshop Draws Clinicians Worldwide

Reaching Out to the World

Lisbon, Portugal, is one of the oldest cities in the world. But this summer it was also the location for discussing some of the newest research on stuttering.

Stuttering Help Now Available to Anyone in the World

For Immediate Release
Contact: Greg Wilson
greg@curleycompany.com
571-239-7474

Foundation Expands Reach to International Stuttering Community

Looking Beyond the Stutter

For a long time I felt as though my stutter was robbing me of the person I wanted to be; I was the shy girl who didn’t really say much, which in today's world is somehow synonymous with not knowing much, and I was always viewed as less capable than others.

Shane Yellowbird

Canadian Country music star Shane Yellowbird has topped the Canadian charts, with hits including “Bare Feet on the Blacktop” and “Pickup Truck.” Born and raised in Alberta, Canada, Yellowbird was set to follow in his parents footsteps and become a rodeo cowboy until his stuttering changed everything.

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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.

Mel Tillis

Mel Tillis, born Lonnie Melvin Tillis, was an influential figure in country music, both as a songwriter and a performer. His journey to fame was marked by overcoming personal challenges, including a stutter that he turned into a defining part of his public persona.

Marilyn Monroe

From Edward S. Herrington's letter to Southcoasttoday.com

I am writing in response to "The importance of voice" (May 29), which mentioned that famous actor James Earl Jones struggled with stuttering. Another famous voice that you cited was the trademark breathy voice of Marilyn Monroe; however, you did not make mention of the fact that Marilyn Monroe also struggled with stuttering at various points in her life, sometimes very painfully.

Lewis Carroll

The recent Disney version of Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice in Wonderland, garnered a great deal of media hype. Even though the mainstream media has not made mention that Carroll was a person who stuttered, his family history gives credence to the discovery of the genetic link to stuttering. Carroll was born to parents who were first cousins; almost all of their eleven children, three girls and seven boys, struggled with stuttering past childhood.

Bill Withers

While Bill Withers has long been on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter, many people probably didn’t realize he stuttered. He passed away on March 30, 2020.

Born in 1938 in Slab Fork, W.V., Withers was the youngest of six children. When his father died when Withers was small, he was raised by his mother and grandmother, both of whom worked as domestics.