Podcast

Virtual Learning

Online CEUs

Streaming Video Library

For Teachers

7 Tips for Talking with the Child Who Stutters

Read more about 7 Tips for Talking with the Child Who Stutters

Back-to-School Resources

Read more about Back-to-School Resources

7 Tips for Talking with Your Child

Read more about 7 Tips for Talking with Your Child

Book: The Teacher Who Made a Difference

Read more about Book: The Teacher Who Made a Difference

Stuttering: Straight Talk for Teachers Handbook

Read more about Stuttering: Straight Talk for Teachers Handbook

Stuttering: Straight Talk for Teachers

Read more about Stuttering: Straight Talk for Teachers

Notes to the Teacher: The Child Who Stutters at School

Read more about Notes to the Teacher: The Child Who Stutters at School

ABCs of Stuttering

Read more about ABCs of Stuttering

Subscribe to For Teachers

CELEBRITY FOCUS

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.

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.

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.

For Teachers

Trouble at Recess

7 Tips for Talking with the Child Who Stutters

Back-to-School Resources

7 Tips for Talking with Your Child

Book: The Teacher Who Made a Difference

Stuttering: Straight Talk for Teachers Handbook

Stuttering: Straight Talk for Teachers

Notes to the Teacher: The Child Who Stutters at School

FAQs for Teachers

ABCs of Stuttering

Bill Withers

Mel Tillis

Bill Walton

John Melendez

John Stossel

Famous People Who Stutter