FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jane Fraser
jfraser@StutteringHelp.org
912-223-7481 or 202-686-4494

Memphis, Tenn. (August 5, 2019) — For many children and parents, the new school year is a time of excitement and anticipation. But for children who stutter, a new classroom, new teacher, new school, or new friends can be reasons for anxiety and concern. The Stuttering Foundation provides help.

“For more than three decades, children have shared their concerns with the Stuttering Foundation and we write back to them—more than 600 letters a year—and many write about school,” said Foundation president Jane Fraser. “We listen and provide help and hope.”

For several years, children’s letters and artwork have been published in the Foundation’s newsletters and magazines. Here’s what children have to say about school and stuttering:

“I am feeling very nervous about 7th grade because I’m scared to stutter in a new place with new people.”

  • 6th grader from Covington, WA

“When I stutter, I feel like no one cares about me because I take too long to talk.”

  • 9-year-old from Leavenworth, KS

“Since the first day of school, I’ve been judged for the way I speak...When I was younger, a lot of my teachers and classmates had a hard time understanding me and asked me to repeat my words. I got bullied too. This made me feel frustrated.”

  • 11-year-old from Pittsburgh, PA

“My speech teacher helped me make a presentation to teach the kids in my class about stuttering. It was good for them to know that stuttering is OK and it’s just the way people talk sometimes. If you stutter, you should know that you are not the only one and you are smart.”

  • 8-year-old from San Diego, CA

“You should always say what you want to say in class and at home. What you have to say is important!”

  • 10-year-old from Casper, WY

“I get shy sometimes when I ask my teacher questions in class. I feel okay about stuttering because when I go to speech therapy, I have friends that stutter, too.”

  • 9-year-old from Mesa, AZ

“I have been stuttering since Kindergarten. Now that I’m in 5th grade, I have learned not to let my stuttering get in the way at my school.”

  • 10-year-old from San Diego, CA

“Just the other day, my teacher chose me for a math question...I felt good after I was able to speak, and my teacher complimented me.”

  • 10-year-old from Clinton, CT

“When I stutter, kids start to laugh at me. I do not want kids to laugh when I stutter, but I have a best friend who helps me feel better and not stutter a lot.”

  • 6th grader from Montclair, CA

“I am lucky that in my school there is no one who makes fun of me because of my speech. Mr. C., my classroom teacher, encourages me by asking me to talk more in my class using my strategies.”

  • 11-year-old from Danbury, CT

The Stuttering Foundation provides print, online and video materials to assist children who stutter, parents, and teachers at: https://www.stutteringhelp.org/school.

About the Foundation

Malcolm Fraser, a successful businessman who struggled with stuttering, established and endowed the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation in 1947. The Foundation provides free online resources at StutteringHelp.org for people who stutter and their families as well as support for research into the causes of stuttering. For more information, visit www.StutteringHelp.org.

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