Parents, Don't Be Misled — Early Intervention Pays Off | Stuttering Foundation: A Nonprofit Organization Helping Those Who Stutter

For Immediate Release
Contact: Greg Wilson
gregwilsonpr@gmail.com 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Sept. 10, 2013) – The headlines about a new Australian study on preschoolers’ stuttering are creating concerns for the Stuttering Foundation.

“Headlines heralding ‘Preschoolers’ Stuttering Not Harmful’ send a mixed message to parents – one that could be troublesome for children who stutter. Our biggest concern is that parents will just see this headline,” said Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation. “For decades, we have advocated that parents should gather credible information about stuttering and seek early intervention. But these headlines seem to indicate there is little cause for concern or no immediate need to seek help. In many cases, this approach is just not acceptable.”

Fraser also discussed further concerns with the new study. “One problem with the data is that it stops at age four, just when one might expect to see some harmful effects from stuttering. In addition, the study includes only 142 children. It is far too early to interpret the findings because we do not know how many of these children will continue to stutter and what effects it will have on them and their lives.”

For more than six decades, the Stuttering Foundation has provided guidance, support and materials to parents of children who stutter. Current, timely and accurate information for parents about children and stuttering is now available in a new 16-minute video titled, “7 Tips for Talking with the Child Who Stutters” available from the Stuttering Foundation.

“Through our website, www.StutteringHelp.org, and a DVD being sent to more than 50,000 pediatricians, we have made the leading voices on preschool stuttering available to parents around the world to answer their tough questions and offer practical strategies parents can use to support their young child’s communication skills and build confidence.”

The video features some of the world’s leading hands-on therapists working with preschool children who stutter. They include Lisa A. Scott, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, of The Florida State University’s School of Communication Science and Disorders; Ellen Kelly, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; speech-language consultants Frances Cook,MBE, MSc, MRCSLT (Hons), Cert CT (Oxford), Willie Botterill, MSc, MRCSLT, Cert CT and Elaine Kelman, MSc, MRCSLT, Cert CBT from the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children in London.

“I believe this video will make a real difference for parents who are anxious and feel helpless when their child first begins to stutter,” added Fraser. “They often think it is their fault and wonder what they have done wrong. This video should help ease their fears while focusing their efforts on doing things that will help the child right away.”

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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.

Bruce Willis

While the world knows Bruce Willis as an A-list actor, few know that he struggled with stuttering throughout his first 20 years.

Walter Bruce Willis was born in 1955 in West Germany to his German mother, Marlene, and his American GI father, David Willis. The family settled in David’s hometown of Penns Grove, New Jersey in 1957, and the couple has three other children.

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.

Bob Love

Bob Love has dreamt about being a great public speaker since his early days in Bastrop Louisiana, even though, as a young man, he could barely put two words together, let alone speak a full sentence.

In spite of his severe stuttering disability, Bob Love, the son of a sharecropper, rose to become a Chicago Bulls NBA superstar, whose records were eventually surpassed by Michael Jordan. Throughout his entire athletic career, Bob Love kept his stuttering a secret from the fans who adored him, thinking he could do his “talking” on the basketball court.

Frank Wolf

This Virginian congressman has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981. The longtime supporter of the Stuttering Foundation drew national attention to childhood stuttering in 2006 when he submitted an article about Tiger Woods from the SFA newsletter to the Congressional Record. The congressman is featured in the Stuttering Foundation's Famous People Who Stutter brochure.