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TV Stations Report on Stuttering Awareness

NBC and Fox affiliates share numerous resources with their viewers.
Stuttering Awareness PSA

Watch the Facebook Q&A with SFA President Jane Fraser and film Director Cody Packer, who created a PSA on stuttering.
Stuttering Makes Headlines on WACH Fox 57

The Foundation is spreading the word for National Stuttering Awareness Week.
WJBF TV Highlights Stuttering

ABC Station Focuses on National Stuttering Awareness Week
KAGS TV Reports on NSAW

NBC Station Makes Stuttering a Top Story
PBS Stations Help Spread the Word

NSAW Highlighted on Lakeland News
Stuttering Foundation Celebrates Teacher Appreciation Week

For more than seven decades, the Stuttering Foundation has worked hand-in-hand with teachers to help them understand the needs of the child who stutters, both in the classroom and on the playground.
Remembering Bill Withers

Bill Withers has been a friend for many years and is on our list of Famous People Who Stutter. Like so many great singers and songwriters such as B.B. King and Carly Simon, Bill stuttered. And just as they did, he turned to singing to express himself through music because the spoken word was so tough for him. He will live on forever through his incredible songs.

-Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation
Marilyn Monroe

Few Hollywood actors have been as famous as Marilyn Monroe. Even 58 years after her death, she remains a popular cultural icon.
Remembering Jack Welch

Former CEO Jack Welch was an inspiration to others who stutter.

Archived Articles

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.

Emily Blunt

Actress Emily Blunt struggled with stuttering early in her life. A teacher encouraged her to act in a school play at age 12 despite her stuttering.

Blunt’s name is prominently featured on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter.

Winston Churchill

Seeking to "remove Winston Churchill's stutter by second guessing the diagnosis" indicates neither a truthful retelling of history nor an informed opinion about a complex speech disorder, say experts in the field of speech-language pathology.

Recent news reports that quote Dr. John Mather, a Washington physician, as saying that Churchill's stutter "is a lie" brought adamant critical response from specialists in the field of stuttering and fluency disorders.

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.

Famous People Who Stutter