Role of Physician

The physician is often the first professional to whom a parent turns for help. Knowing the difference between normal developmental speech disfluency and potentially chronic stuttering enables the physician to advise parents and refer when appropriate. Early intervention for stuttering which may range from parent counseling and indirect treatment to direct instruction can be a major factor in preventing a life-long problem.

Data from several different treatment programs indicate substantial recovery if treatment is initiated in the preschool years.^6,7,8

6. Fox, P.T., Ingham, R., Ingham, J.C., Hirsch, T.B., Downs, J.H., Martin, C. et al. (1996). A PET study of the neural systems of stuttering.Nature, 382:158-162.

7. Fox, P.T., Ingham, R.J., Ingham, J.C., Zamarripa, F., Xiong, J.- H., and Lancaster, J.L. (2000). Brain correlates of stuttering and syllable production: A PET performance-correlation analysis. Brain, 123:1985-2004.

8. Sommer, M., Koch, M.A., Paulus, W., Weiller, C. and Buchel, C. (2002). Disconnection of speech-relevant brain areas in persistent developmental stuttering. Lancet, 360: 380-383.

Guitar, B., & Conture, E. G. (Eds.) (2006). The child who stutters: To the pediatrician. Fourth edition, publication 0023. Memphis, TN: Stuttering Foundation of America.

CELEBRITY FOCUS

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.

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.

King George

In November 2010, worldwide movie audiences were presented with a most interesting and unusual movie release with The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth as King George VI and Helena Bonham Carter as his wife Elizabeth.

Unfortunately, history may have forgotten the courageous and inspiring story of Prince Albert who stuttered badly and never dreamed that he would ever be king when his older brother, King Edward VIII, abruptly abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee.

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.

John Stossel

John Stossel is one of the most recognized and articulate reporters today. However, he once considered giving up his broadcasting career because of his stuttering.

“Fear of stuttering can easily become worse than the stuttering itself,” observed Stossel. “The idea that I’m on television and making speeches is still a shock to me sometimes.”