1. Byron Pitts of 60 Minutes Joins Famous People Poster
for National Stuttering Awareness Week, May 10-16
Page 5
T HE S TUTTERING F OUNDATION
A Nonprofit Organization SUMMER 2010 Since 1947 ... Helping Those Who Stutter
Starkweather
Receives
Malcolm Fraser
Award
C. Woodruff Starkweather,
Ph.D., received the 2010
Malcolm Fraser Award during
the January meeting of the
Special Interest Division for
Fluency and Fluency
Disorders. Barbara Amster,
Ph.D. made the following
award presentation:
I was asked to give the high-
lights of the awardee’s career.
This is not an easy feat as his
CV is more than 25 pages long, Dennis Drayna, Ph.D., researcher for the National Institute on Deafness and Other
Communication Disorders. See page 2 for the NIDCD press release.
but I will try to give you only
the highlights.
Woody Starkweather is an in-
dividual whose contributions Researchers Discover
over more than 40 years have
promoted and enhanced public First Genes for Stuttering
and professional understanding The mystery behind a complex therapy and early intervention
of the nature of stuttering and its disorder called stuttering became with young children remain the
treatment. He has demonstrated a little clearer with the announce- best option for now.”
excellence in the field of stutter- ment of the discovery of three “We have long known that
ing as a master teacher, advo- genes for stuttering by Dennis stuttering runs in families,” says
cate for people who stutter, and Drayna, Ph.D., a director of the Fraser. “We want to emphasize
scholar/researcher. In the words Stuttering Foundation and re- that a genetic predisposition for
of one of his nominators, “I be- searcher for the National Institute stuttering does not mean a per-
on Deafness and Other son will have a lifelong prob-
lieve that he is one of only a few Communication Disorders. lem. Early treatment in young
people whose contributions to “This research is important be- children can effectively prevent
the field of stuttering go beyond cause it’s another indication that stuttering.”
a listing of research, teaching, emotional factors such as anxiety Developing an understanding
and service accomplishments. or ‘bad parenting’ do not cause of the biological basis of stutter-
Continued on page 6 stuttering. It could also point the ing may someday lead to better
way for a cure one day,” says early diagnosis, differential
Jane Fraser, president of the treatments for people with ge-
Stuttering Foundation. netic indicators, and a better un-
“We hear every day from par- derstanding of how speech pro-
ents worried that they have duction happens differently for
caused their child’s stuttering. people who stutter. Although
Parents don’t cause stuttering, Dr. Drayna notes that his find-
and this research should lift the ings are unlikely to have any
Jean Gruss, grandson of SFA burden of guilt from their shoul- immediate impact on treatment,
founder Malcolm Fraser, and ders,” Fraser noted. “But because they nonetheless represent a
C. Woodruff Starkweather at a cure may be years away, speech giant step forward.
the award ceremony.

2. THE
STUTTERING
2 www.stutteringhelp.org FOUNDATION 800-992-9392
Press Release from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders:
Findings Suggest Stuttering, in Some Cases,
May Actually be an Inherited Metabolic Disorder
Feb. 10, 2010 — Stuttering may be rounding a new marker and identi- some. Large deposits of these sub-
the result of a glitch in the day-to-day fied mutations in a gene known as stances ultimately cause joint, skele-
process by which cellular components in GNPTAB in the affected family tal system, heart, liver, and other
key regions of the brain are broken members. The GNPTAB gene is health problems as well as develop-
down and recycled, says a study in the carried by all higher animals, and mental problems in the brain. They
Feb. 10 Online First issue of the New helps encode an enzyme that assists are also known to cause problems
England Journal of Medicine. The in breaking down and recycling cel- with speech.
study, led by researchers at the National lular components, a process that “You might ask, why don’t people
Institute on Deafness and Other takes place inside a cell structure with the stuttering mutations have
Communication Disorders (NIDCD), called the lysosome. more serious complications? Why
part of the National Institutes of Health, They then analyzed the genes of don’t they have an ML disease?”
has identified three genes as a source of 123 Pakistani individuals who stut- posed Dr. Drayna, senior author of the
stuttering in volunteers in Pakistan, the ter—46 from the original families and paper. “ML disorders are recessive.
United States, and England. Mutations 77 who are unrelated—as well as 96 You need to have two copies of a de-
in two of the genes have already been unrelated Pakistanis who don’t stutter, fective gene in order to get the dis-
implicated in other rare metabolic disor- and who served as controls. ease. Nearly all of the unrelated indi-
ders also involved in cell recycling, Individuals from the United States and viduals in our study who stuttered had
while mutations in a third, closely relat- England also took part in the study, only one copy of the mutation. Also,
ed, gene have now been shown to be as- 270 who stutter and 276 who don’t. with stuttering, the protein is still
sociated for the first time with a disorder The re- made, but it’s not made exactly right.
in humans. searchers With ML diseases, the proteins typi-
“For hundreds of years, the cause found cally aren’t made at all. Still, there are
of stuttering has remained a mystery some in- a few complexities remaining to be
for researchers and health care profes- dividuals understood, and we’d like to learn
sionals alike, not to mention people who stut- more about them.”
who stutter and their families,” said ter pos- The findings open new research
James F. Battey, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., di- sessed the same mutation as that found avenues into possible treatments for
rector of the NIDCD. “This is the first in the large Pakistani family. They also stuttering. For example, current
study to pinpoint specific gene muta- identified three other mutations in the treatment methods for some lysoso-
tions as the potential cause of stutter- GNPTAB gene which showed up in mal storage disorders involve inject-
ing, a disorder that affects 3 million several unrelated individuals who stut- ing manufactured enzyme into a per-
Americans, and by doing so, might ter but not in the controls. son’s bloodstream to replace the
lead to a dramatic expansion in our GNPTAB encodes its enzyme with missing enzyme. The researchers
options for treatment.” the help of another gene called wonder if enzyme replacement ther-
Stuttering is a speech disorder in GNPTG. In addition, a second en- apy might be a possible method for
which a person repeats or prolongs zyme, called NAGPA, acts at the next treating some types of stuttering in
sounds, syllables, or words, disrupting step in this process. Together, these the future.
the normal flow of speech. It can enzymes make up the signaling The researchers estimate that
severely hinder communication and a mechanism that cells use to steer a roughly 9 percent of people who stut-
person’s quality of life. Most children variety of enzymes to the lysosome to ter possess mutations in one of the
who stutter will outgrow stuttering, do their work. Because of the close three genes. Among the next steps,
although many do not; roughly 1 per- relationship among the three genes in they are conducting a worldwide epi-
cent of adults stutter worldwide. this process, the GNPTG and demiological study to better deter-
Stuttering tends to run in families, NAGPA genes were the next logical mine the percentage of people who
and researchers have long suspected a place for the researchers to look for carry one or more of these mutations.
genetic component. Previous studies possible mutations in people who They are also conducting biochemi-
of stuttering in a group of families stutter. Indeed, when they examined cal studies to determine specifically
from Pakistan had been done by these two genes, they found muta- how the mutations affect the en-
Dennis Drayna, Ph.D., a geneticist tions in individuals who stutter, but zymes. A long-term goal is to use
with the NIDCD, which indicated a not in control groups. these findings to determine how this
place on chromosome 12 that was The GNPTAB and GNPTG genes metabolic defect affects structures
likely to harbor a gene variant that have already been tied to two serious within the brain that are essential for
caused this disorder. metabolic diseases known as mucol- fluent speech.
In the latest research, Dr. Drayna ipidosis (ML) II and III. MLII and In addition to the NIDCD, researchers at the
and his team refined the location of MLIII are part of a group of diseases University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan; the
this place on chromosome 12 and called lysosomal storage disorders Hollins Communications Research Institute,
focused their efforts on the new because improperly recycled cell Roanoke, Va.; the National Human Genome
Research Institute (NHGRI); and the NIH Clinical
site. They sequenced the genes sur- components accumulate in the lyso- Center contributed to this work.

3. THE
STUTTERING
SUMMER 2010 FOUNDATION 800-992-9392 3
More than 100,000,000 People Reached!
Feb. 10 was a blockbuster day with news of the discov-
ery of the first three genes for stuttering.
Stephanie Nano’s Associated Press wire story reached
more than 1,700 newspapers, 5,000 radio and
television outlets in the United States, and radio,
television and newspaper subscribers interna-
tionally. In her article, Nano
quotes Dennis Drayna as saying
“stuttering is almost certainly a biological
problem.” She also included SFA’s Jane
Fraser’s comment that “in terms of mythbusters, this is re-
ally an important step forward.”
Richard Knox’s NPR segment for Morning Edition
reached more than 20 million listeners. He interviewed
Dr. Drayna extensively as well as speech-language
pathologist Kristin Chmela and Fraser. Chmela shared
her excitement about the new research not only from the
viewpoint of a therapist, but also of a
person who stutters herself.
Fraser shared with Knox how thrilled her
father, Stuttering Foundation founder
Malcolm Fraser would have been to learn
of this discovery. “He always felt that if he
just tried hard enough, he wouldn’t stutter.
This research would have lifted a heavy
burden of guilt from his shoulders.”
The news appeared around the world at light-
ning speed with additional articles and seg-
ments by Agence France Presse, the China
Daily, AAJ Pakistan TV, The Tehran Times,
The Watan Daily in Kuwait, the Brisbane Times, and a live
interview in Sydney, Australia with Dr. Drayna. Coverage of the discovery of the first genes for
Other U.S. outlets featuring the findings include stuttering included the Stuttering Foundation’s
HealthNewsDigest, The Philadelphia being featured on marquees in Times Square.
Inquirer, The Commercial Appeal, the
Arizona Daily Star, El Paso Times,
Cleveland Plain Dealer, Newsday,
MarketWatch, ABC, CBS, Fox News, CNN, the Miami
Herald, and many more too numerous to list.
Annual Audit funds and expenditures for the year. be assured that their gifts will go direct-
The annual audit of the Stuttering The 3.8% of expenditures for ad- ly to support our program services.
Foundation financial reports for 2009 ministration and general expenses and The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) pri-
was recently completed by the account- the 7/10 of 1% for fund raising are very vate operating foundation which ex-
ing firm of Cannon and Company, low, and since we are fortunate to have pends its funds on its own programs and
Certified Public Accountants, an endowment which more than cov- operations and does not make grants to
Memphis, Tenn. Following is a recap of ers our overhead expenses, donors can other institutions.
Funds expended for:
Creation, production, printing and distribution
of educational materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $503,615 . . . . . . . 36.5%
Public information and education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300,781 . . . . . . . 21.8%
Educational symposia for professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .172,360 . . . . . . . . 12.5%
Research on causes/treatment of stuttering and therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254,687 . . . . . . . . 18.4%
Maintain Web site and toll-free information hotline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87,169 . . . . . . . . . 6.3%
Total for Program Services:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,318,612 . . . . . . 95.5%
Other expenditures:
Administration and general . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,984 . . . . . . . . . 3.8%
Fund-raising expense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,318 . . . . . . . . 0.7%
Total Expenditures: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,380,914 . . . . . . . 100%

4. THE
STUTTERING
4 www.stutteringhelp.org FOUNDATION 800-992-9392
Jane Fraser, Lady Caroline
Michael Palin Prince Charles Egremont and Prince Charles.
Prince Charles Supports
Stammering Centre
Stuttering Foundation President Jane Fraser at-
tended a luncheon reception at Clarence House
hosted by Prince Charles to announce His Royal
Highness’ support of an appeal to fund treatment
for children who stutter. The appeal was launched
by the Association for Research into Stammering
Education Secretary Ed in Childhood (ARSC), our Foundation partner in Prince Charles greeting
Balls, Michael Palin and the United Kingdom. Travers and Sandra Reid.
Prince Charles. “It was a great honor to meet Prince Charles Travers is Life President
and work to increase awareness and support for and co-Founder of ARSC.
stuttering,” Fraser said.
The Prince of Wales commented, “I am so
pleased to be Patron of this Appeal particularly in
memory of my grandfather, King George VI, who,
as many of you will know, was afflicted with a
stammer for many years. His stammer cut him off
I think in so many ways from his parents and his
brothers and sisters and drove him into himself as
I suspect so many stammerers will understand.
Above all he experienced that awful fear of feel- Dame Gail Ronson and
Renowned author Lord ing different from others.” Major General Bryan
Max Egremont with Prince Read more about this event, view press cov- Dutton greet Prince
Charles. erage, and find the Prince’s entire speech at Charles.
www.stutteringhelp.org.
Mrs. Jane Fraser and Mr. Joe Fulcher
Jane Fraser is seen meet-
ing Prince Charles on the Prince Charles and
TV news. Frances Cook.
National Stuttering Awareness Week
May 10-16, 2010

5. THE
STUTTERING
SUMMER 2010 FOUNDATION 800-992-9392 5
National Stuttering Awareness Week is May 10-16
In response to the exciting genetic find-
ings, our Friends on Facebook let us know
what they thought:
Ray
As I listened to the NPR broadcast
regarding the new genetic finding
about the cause of stuttering, tears
were streaming down my cheeks. I
reflected back on the 60 years of my life, and
it just seemed as though so much of the
ridicule, self doubts and struggles melted
away; in their stead were knowledge, under-
standing and a feeling of inner peace. I now
think that I know how Atlas must have felt
when he was allowed to remove the weight of
the world from his shoulders.
Katie
As an SLP and Mom to 3 beautiful
kids ages 8, 7, and 5 who've all stut- 60 Minutes Correspondent Byron Pitts
tered to varying degrees this re- Joins the Team of Famous People
search is very exciting! Our oldest
and youngest responded positively to modifi-
cations at home to promote fluency (modeling
reduced speaking rate, daily one on one time,
etc.), but for our middle daughter who also Outreach to Pediatricians
had multiple articulation errors and relatively
weak language skills, the modifications The new Pediatrics Review and
weren’t enough. She has been in speech for 3 Education Program, PREP The Curriculum
years, and is doing great! As an SLP I knew
that there were many misconceptions about 2010, displays the Stuttering Foundation’s
stutterers and their parents. However, until I Physician’s Checklist for Referral.
faced these misconceptions as a parent, and This Checklist helps physicians know
encountered people’s reactions to my chil-
dren’s stuttering; I didn’t fully appreciate how when and how to refer their young pa-
painful they can be to stutterers and their tients to a speech-language pathologist
loved ones! for treatment.
Susanne Barry Guitar, Ph.D., and Edward G.
As a mother of a 12 year old who stut- Conture, Ph.D., compiled this Checklist;
ters, I’ve been told numerous times
that it is nothing the parent has done and it is part of the bestseller, The Child
to cause this stuttering, yet the doubt Who Stutters: To the Pediatrician, pub-
was always lingering there. This is great news lished by the Stuttering Foundation.
for all who have been affected by stuttering.
“Reaching pediatricans with accurate in-
Brandon formation on stuttering is one of our most
As a teen that stutters I really
hope that it is a gene defect and important goals,” said June Campbell,
doctors can somehow change it. M.A., CCC-SLP, who represents the
I’ve always joked around with my Foundation at the American Academy of
speech teachers about that and now it may
actually happen. Pediatrics convention every year.
Alan
As a life long stutterer this could fi-
nally lead to better treatment, too
late for me but for the younger peo- T-shirts featuring running backs
ple this is potentially good news. LaDanian Tomlinson and Darren
Sproles have sold out.
Jackie
As a mom of a 7 year old boy who Greathouse Screen Printing cranked out
has struggled with this for 2 years it thousands of these special edition Chargers
is heart breaking knowing there is shirts with the headline “Thunderbolt and
not a pill, cure or simple fix. And as
with Susanne, I was told there is nothing we Lightning, Very, Very Frightening.”
could have done to cause it, you still always Each player donated the proceeds
question yourself. But this study helps with
relieving some of that doubt. The Stuttering from the sale of the t-shirts to chari-
Foundation has provided our family with a lot ties close to his heart. Sproles, an
of information & the SLP & my son’s teach- SFA spokesman, chose the Stuttering
ers have been amazing. Thank you all!
Foundation. T-shirt supports Foundation

6. THE
6 www.stutteringhelp.org
STUTTERING 800-992-9392
FOUNDATION
Award Continued from front page
Woody truly cares about people who stutter, and has worked tirelessly to give them
a voice through his writing, his leadership, and his creative vision.”
Many of his writings have changed the way speech-language pathologists
evaluate and treat stuttering. His work on the Demands and Capacities Model has
had a profound impact on stuttering prevention and has influenced our under-
Malcolm Fraser and standing of factors that contribute to the onset and maintenance of stuttering be-
Woody Starkweather haviors, thus setting the stage for multi-factorial views of stuttering.
in the 1970s He has had a stellar career as a scholar and researcher. His book Stuttering, co-writ-
ten with Janet Givens, received the Choice Magazine
Award as the “Best Academic Book of 1997.” This was
the first time that this “Oscar of Academic Publishing”
had been given in the field of Speech Pathology. Other
books he has written are now considered classics in the
field including: Stuttering Prevention: a Clinical Method
(1990; co-authored with Sheryl Gottwald & Murray
Woody Starkweather Woody Starkweather Halfond) and Fluency and Stuttering (1987). He is the
and Jane Fraser and Janet Givens author of more than forty articles and chapters concern-
ing: learning processes in stut-
tering, the Demands and
Capacities Model of stuttering,
stuttering development, stutter-
ing prevention, the assessment
of stuttering, the experience of
stuttering, and the efficacy of
Woody Starkweather Barbara Amster, Ken St. Woody Starkweather stuttering therapy.
and Vianne Bjornberg Louis, Hayley Arnold and Sheryl Gottwald In the words of one nomina-
and Vianne Bjornberg tor, “his contributions go far
beyond the walls of the class-
room and clinic. He has made
the greatest contribution of
anyone I know towards con-
necting people who care about
stuttering, and developing
mechanisms for allowing them
Rossanna Portley, Woody Starkweather Jennifer Watson and to learn and support one anoth-
Hayley Arnold, Courtney and Vivian Sisskin Susan Cochrane er. He demonstrated this
Byrd and Jane Fraser through his leadership as pres-
ident of the International
Fluency Association, helping develop and nurture it as it
grew from a fledgling organization into a recognized av-
enue of exchange and communication among the inter-
national community in stuttering. He was instrumental
in the development of ASHA’s Specialty Recognition
program. He served on ASHA’s Special Interest
Glen Tellis, Kathy Rossanna Portley and Division 4, Fluency and Fluency Disorders, helping to
Scaler-Scott and Shelley Brundage write guidelines and to unify professionals otherwise
Marilyn Langevin working in isolation in schools, clinics, hospitals and universities across the country.”
His tireless advocacy for people who stutter has given a strong voice to children and
adults who stutter. His leadership in the development of support groups provided the
model for future support organizations throughout the world. When he founded
STUTT_L, an internet discussion list for researchers, clinicians, and people who stut-
ter, individuals from all of these groups had a forum to discuss and share ideas for the
first time. He has had a profound influence on people who stutter, their families, and
Woody Starkweather, the speech-language pathologists who treat them. It is with great respect and admira-
Vivan Sisskin and tion that we present the 2010 Malcolm Fraser award to Dr. C. Woodruff Starkweather.
Liz Edwards

7. THE
SUMMER 2010 STUTTERING 800-992-9392 7
FOUNDATION
The recent Disney version of read out the first verse where the
Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice in two words ‘strife, strengthened’
Wonderland, garnered a great deal of “Rules & Regulations” coming together were
media hype. Even though the main- Learn well your grammar too much for me,
stream media has not made mention And never stammer… and I had to
that Carroll was a person who stut- Eat bread with butter leave the verse
tered, his family history gives cre- Once more, don’t stutter. unfinished.”
dence to the discovery of the genetic ~Lewis Carroll C a r r o l l ’s
link to stuttering. Carroll was born to true essential life, expressed in the nephew,
parents who were first cousins; al- Alice books and in some poems ….. S t u a r t
most all of their eleven children, When he spoke to these children, he Dodgson
three girls and seven boys, struggled lost his habitual stammer. He simply Collingwood,
with stuttering past childhood. became one of them …… This wrote that his
In Lewis perennial childhood, together with uncle “saw that
Carroll: A the fantasy and poetry that some- the impediment of
Biography, au- times expressed it, was his reality.” speech from which he suffered
thor Morton N. In 1859, Carroll undertook speech would greatly interfere with the prop-
Cohen stated, er performance of clerical duties.”
“The newborn One longtime friend, May Barber,
son was the described Carroll’s speech, “Those
third of what stammering bouts were rather terri-
eventually be- fying. It wasn’t exactly a stammer
came a family because there was no noise, he just
of eleven chil- opened his mouth …. When he was
dren, and if these bloodlines deserve in the middle of telling a story ……
credit for the creative genius we he suddenly stopped and you won-
know to be Lewis Carroll’s, so per- dered if you had done anything
haps they bear the blame for the wrong. Then you looked at him and
stammer epidemic in Charles’ you knew that you hadn’t, it was all
speech and in the speech of much of right. You got used to it after a bit.
his brothers and sisters.” He fought it wonderfully.”
Lewis Carroll, the pseudonym of Biographer John Pudney wrote,
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was “Perhaps his failure to correct his
born in 1827 to Charles Dodgson speech impediment was the overar-
and the former Frances Jane ching symbol of his entire life. He
Lutwidge. In addition to being a learned to live with his stammering;
writer, Carroll was a mathematician, therapy lessons from James Hunt, he knew
a logician, an Anglican deacon and a what it per-
who was considered the foremost
photographer. His most notable lit- mitted him
erary works are Alice’s Adventures speech correctionist in Great Britain
to do, what
in Wonderland, Through the at the time and was estimated to have not, where
Looking Glass, The Hunting of the treated 1,700 people who stutter. In it would
Snark, and Jabberwocky. The Mystery of Lewis Carroll, biog- snare him
Biographer John Pudney ex- rapher Jenny Woolf stated that Hunt and de-
pressed in Lewis Carroll and his boasted he taught the patient to stroy the
World how Carroll’s childlike fan- speak consciously in a way that other effects he
tasies were not only the spark for his men spoke unconsciously. sought to
creative genius but also brought him Nothing bothered Carroll more achieve and how to avoid the traps.”
into a new about his speech than how it affect- Stuttering did not stop Lewis
world where ed his ministry in the Anglican Carroll. He brought to life many last-
stuttering did Church. His father had been an ing and imaginative stories for chil-
not exist, “This Anglican priest, and Carroll himself dren. It is a shame that his own strug-
‘perfectly hard became a deacon. Upon one occa- gles and family history of stuttering
crystal’ con- sion he accepted the invitation to are not well known as they would
taining child- preach and recalled, “I got through it further inspire as well as help chil-
hood was his all with great success, till I came to dren who stutter.

8. THE
STUTTERING
8 FOUNDATION
www.stutteringhelp.org 800-992-9392
From One Clutterer to Another … Strategies that Helped Me
By Lacey Heid how strained my voice sound-
I was diagnosed with a mild clut- ed at the end of my sentences
tering disorder when I was 24 years (because I would speak on
old. Cluttering is a type of fluency residual air). Then, we lis-
disorder, and it often gets misdiag- tened to the recordings of the
nosed or undiagnosed altogether. I reading samples.
want to discuss what has helped me This was the turning point in
improve my speech. Hopefully, my speech therapy, because I
this will help others who clutter heard the difference. I heard the
find some strategies that may help pausing. I heard every sound in
every word. I understood every-
improve their speech, as well as The Stuttering Foundation thing I had said. That is the point
shed some light for SLPs on ways offers a DVD and brochure when I realized that I could talk
to help their clients with fluency on cluttering. more slowly and I could be un-
disorders. derstood. All I had to do was take
As I got older, my peers started unaware of them, and there- these strategies and apply them
reacting to my speech rate. fore, has a hard time self-mon- to everyday conversation.
Although I had a lot of friends, itoring. Cluttering is often mis-
there would be that occasional per- Self-Monitoring — This was
diagnosed, or in my case, undi- by far the most important strate-
son that playfully mocked my agnosed, even though onset
“stuttering” or mentioned that I al- gy for me. I needed to be able to
can occur as early as the hear my own speech rate as I was
ways talked too fast. preschool years.
In the working world, it be- speaking and adjust my speech
After my initial speech and accordingly.
came worse. Co-workers and language evaluation, my SLP
customers had a hard time under- If I couldn’t hear myself omit-
(who at the time was a student ting syllables, or hear myself
standing me, and it became more clinician) and I began to work on
obvious to me as their comments “cramming” words together, I
numerous strategies focusing on wouldn’t be successful in stop-
became more numerous. I had slowing my speech rate, and be-
difficulties speaking to authority ping or preventing myself from
coming more intelligible. cluttering.
figures, as well as talking on the Although I understood the
phone. I was constantly told to This is where the uncomfort-
point to the exercises, I didn’t able recordings of my voice
speak more quietly, and “what’s” appreciate their meaning until
and “huh’s” became a more fre- helped so much, because I was
the day I walked into the room able to feel myself performing
quent response from my listen- and my SLP told me we were the action of speaking more
ers. At age 24, I realized how going to record parts of the ses- slowly, and then I was able to
much I was letting my speech sion, and then play the record- play back and hear myself speak
hold me back from better jobs ings back so that I could hear at a normal rate. There was a
and opportunities. I wanted to be myself talk. huge positive reinforcement
an overall better communicator. I Not many people like hearing when I discovered this.
decided to start speech therapy. the sound of their own voice, my To read more about what
And that’s when I learned the being one of them, so I was high- worked for Lacey, go to www.stut-
truth. I was not a stutterer at ly reluctant, but I turned to my teringhelp.org.
all. In fact, I was a clutterer. positive attitude. It was for my
While stuttering is noted by own good.
repetitions, prolongations,
blocking, and secondary “es-
She had taped our casual
conversations at the start of the T he Stuttering Foundation
of America is a tax-ex-
empt organization under
cape” behaviors, cluttering is session, and then she taped my section 501(c)(3) of the
noted by excessive normal dis- reading samples using the Internal Revenue Code and
fluencies, rapid bursts of strategies that we were focus- is classified as a private op-
speech (“excited speech”), and ing on. When she replayed our erating foundation as de-
fined in section 4942(j)(3).
slurred/omitted syllables. conversations, I heard it. I Charitable contributions
While a stutterer can usually heard how fast I spoke. I heard and bequests to the Foundation are
hear and feel their speech dis- the missing parts of the words, tax-deductible, subject to limitations
the rapid speech, and I heard under the Code.
fluencies, a clutterer is usually

9. THE
STUTTERING
FOUNDATION 800-992-9392 9
SUMMER 2010
Workshopper Reaches Spanish
Speaking Community
Judi Cheng, M.S., CCC-SLP, a
?
Stuttering Foundation Eastern Did You Know?
2009 workshopper appeared re- The Stuttering Foundation has
cently on Univision Television numerous resources in Spanish
N e t w o r k ’s as well as a Spanish Web site,
Despierta www.tartamudez.org.
America for
a segment on Spanish speaking ed the mother of a 6-year old boy.
kids who stutter. “I want more information on how
Immediately following to help him with teasing, and I
Cheng’s interview with Yahaira need the name of a therapist.”
Maldonado, the Foundation Another concerned parent
Another began receiv-
ing hundreds
emailed,
“My child
Great Year! of calls and
e-mails from
began stut-
tering when
The Stuttering Foundation Spanish he was 5 and
PSAs are in national and re- speaking now he is 7.
gional magazines as well as people look- He is getting
newspapers across the country. ing for help therapy two
Readers may spot an ad featur- with stutter- days a week,
ing Winston Churchill, Nick ing. but we need
Brendon, conservationist Alan One view- more help.”
Rabinowitz and many others. er wrote, “I “My daugh-
A new PSA with San Diego am 17 years ter is 6-years
Charger Darren Sproles has old. I have Stuttering Foundation workshopper Judi old and has a
been sent to sports magazines been stutter- Cheng, M.S., CCC-SLP, speaks about stut- slight stutter
for use in upcoming issues. ing since I tering on Univision’s Despierta America. when she
Recent PSAs appeared in Good was about 5. My mother saw speaks Spanish and sometimes
Housekeeping, Redbook, ESPN, your interview on TV. We saw on when she speaks English. Can you
Seventeen, Popular Mechanics, your website that you can give us send me information to help?”
Time, American Baby and news- a list of people that might be able asked a mother from New Jersey.
papers including the Philadelphia to help.” To view the Univision Despierta
Inquirer, New York Post, and the “My son is the only one who America segment on stuttering,
NY Times Magazine. stutters at his school,” comment- visit www.stutteringhelp.org.
The Stuttering Foundation
thanks these publications for this
valuable donated space that
reaches thousands and thousands
of readers looking for help. Gregory’s Basic Principles on DVD
Clinicians are still receiving training in the
treatment of stuttering by the expert speech
Help Available in Croatian language pathologist, Hugo Gregory,
The Child Who Stutters: Ph.D., through footage shot at Texas
To the Pediatrician has Christian University in 1998. The
been translated into new DVD, Basic Principles of
Croatian by Dubravka Stuttering Therapy, is now available
Prpic. It can be down- at www.stutteringhelp.org. The
loaded from our Web Foundation is grateful for the tireless
site, www.stutter- efforts of Carolyn Gregory, June Campbell,
inghelp.org. Click on Diane Hill, Jennifer Watson and Kristin Chmela
“Translations” on the left. who worked to make this DVD a reality.

10. THE
STUTTERING
10 FOUNDATION 800-992-9392
www.stutteringhelp.org
Keep a Positive Attitude ily. It’s easy for me to talk to peo-
I’ve been a stutterer for as long ple without bumping when I
as I can remember. It has always quote others, and it makes me
weighed down my shoulders like happy when I tell stories to peo-
I’m wearing a backpack full of ple that make them laugh.
rocks. It has stopped me from try- It’s also good to have a sense of
ing out in plays, doing extra-credit humor when other kids say things
oral reports, running for 7th grade that hurt your feelings. You just
officer, and, in general, speaking have to remember that they don’t
aloud to any kind of audience. understand and haven’t learned how
When I came to the Center, I was to treat anyone with respect.
Carol Ecke was ably assisted by Jennifer able to learn some new techniques to Remember, bullies have more
Watson, Valerie Johnston, Tara Hepler, control my stuttering, ones that actu- personal issues than other kids.
Montse Vallejo, and Geoff Coalson at ally worked. Sadly, although “pro- Ignore them and remember always
the marvelously successful convention of longation”, “pull outs”, and “easy how great you are.
the Texas Speech-Language-Hearing
Association. Russ Hicks of NSA provided bumps” had helped my stuttering, London, 12
this fine photo. they didn’t really help my confi-
dence. I could use the tools and speak What Listeners Should Know
okay, but it didn’t mean I wanted to One percent of the world’s popu-
talk to an audience. lation stutters as adults and 1 in
So Maria gave me a challenge to every 20 children have a stuttering
volunteer to read at school, offer to problem. We need time to get out
pray at church, and raise my hand if I what to say, and if you insult one of
knew the answer to a teacher’s ques- us, are you going to insult all 6.7
tion. This chal- million of us?
lenge terrified We need time
me, and at first to get our
it was like tor- words out, and
Darlene Sommers, Kavita Kaul, and Maryann ture. Gradually, if you ignore
Kaminsky at the conference of the Speech- I realized that us, can you be
Language-Hearing Association of Virginia. each time I did certain you
it, it became didn’t miss
easier and easi- something im-
er. Soon it was portant? Do
no big deal Students in the Wasatch Children’s Stuttering not make as-
when I spoke or Management Program wrote these stories s u m p t i o n s
read in class, and presented them to the group on selected about people
and now I even topics regarding stuttering. who stutter,
find it fun. you might be
Stuttering is what makes me an quite a bit wrong.
individual, and I’m not ashamed I am saying this because I do not
that I’m a little different from ev- want people to assume I have a
eryone else. mental issue, or that I forgot my
We should keep practicing our name, just because I got stuck on
Charlie Osborne and Jessica DeMille at techniques to stay fluent, but most of the first C. Give us time, let us
the conference of the Wisconsin Speech- speak!
Language Pathology and Audiology
the stuttering is in your heart. When
Professional Association. you release the embarrassment, the Clay, 13
sadness, and the stress of stuttering
out of you, it will become little more Feels Like a Maze
than the nose on your face, the shape I’m in a maze, trying to find my
of your eyes, the color of your hair. way out. It seems like, there’s no
Yes, I stutter, but I don’t care. It’s way out of this never-ending
what makes me, me. maze. Every stutter, block, and
Megan, 14 struggle makes me more con-
fused. The only way out is to use
Sense of Humor Helps my techniques, prolongation,
I think it’s good for everyone pull-outs, easy/fake stuttering,
SFA’s Terri Jones prepares the booth at to have a good sense of humor. I and responding to my moments of
the Georgia Organization of School- stuttering. Finally, I’ve found my
Based Speech-Language Pathologists like Jeff Dunham and Dane
Best Practices Conference in March. Cook. I like to quote some of way out of the maze.
Patty Reed joined her at the booth. their lines to my friends and fam- Devan, 14

11. THE
STUTTERING
FOUNDATION 11
SUMMER 2010 800-992-9392
Turning a Negative Into a Positive
By Dylan Levin knew that I stuttered and that could tell that it was directed at
bothered me because what if I what happened to me. Nobody
Two years ago Dylan Levin asked stuttered during the spelling bee? knew what I had just gone
friends and family to donate to the How would people respond? through and nobody understood
Stuttering Foundation as a way to
honor his Bar-Mitzvah. Now as a high At 2 p.m., it was time for the my situation.
school student, he is busy making spelling bee. I walked down the Later that night, the phone rang
speeches and presentations without let- stairs to the cafeteria where it and it was Allie’s teacher calling
ting stuttering get in the way. The fol- was being held and I took my to discuss what happened at
lowing essay is a podcast script Dylan seat on the stage. The problem school. I did not tell my mom be-
gave recently at his school.
was that I psyched myself out. I cause I did not want her to get in-
As many of you knew that I was going to fail. volved. I did not want her to get
know or don’t know, I One by one the kids spelled and upset. The truth is that I probably
have a speech disflu- one by one they got it right. My should have told her the moment
ency called stuttering. turn. The word was population. I got in the car, right after school.
I have had this since Dead silence. I must have said Mr. L told my mom the whole sit-
the age of four. My uh and um about a hundred uation, and she wanted to come
stuttering is an invol- times to make it seem like I was- into his class, to talk with the
untary movement, which I can’t n’t stuttering. And the thing was kids about my disfluency and
control. Stuttering was never an that I knew how to spell the how to be accepting of a person
issue at school; I always participat- word, but I just could not get the with disabilities. I know that my
ed in class and I never felt that there word out. Population is not a mom, when it comes to my
was a problem until one day in hard word to spell. Then the speech disfluency, will always
sixth grade. That was the day when have my back.
I realized that my stuttering was Four years have passed since
never going to go away and there- this happened and now it is only
fore I had to work hard on my a memory lost in the pages of
speaking abilities. my life. My speech from that
It happened at my school time has improved and I owe
spelling bee. There were two that partially to Allie. If she had
ways people got to be a part of not laughed then I probably
the spelling bee. The first one would not have experienced real
was where you compete with vulnerability. Every person that
people in your own advisory and does stutter, has his or her
then the winners go against peo- most horrible thing happened, human form wrapped in a blan-
ple from all of the other advi- laughter. Never in my life had ket of vulnerability all the time,
sories. Lucky for me, I won the anyone really laughed at me like but it is how we persevere dur-
spelling bee for my advisory. I this girl did. Her name was ing these hard times that truly
didn’t think about the fact that I Allie, and I will never forget her. define us. I know now that I
would have to spell words in I purposefully spelled the word would not be the same person
front of the school at that mo- wrong, just to get out of this em- that I am today if I did not stut-
ment in time because I was just barrassing situation. I went into ter. I carry around this memory
happy that I had won. The day the bathroom and started to cry. I with me always because it is a
wore on and I started to become was mortified and angry. I began reminder that I must keep on
really nervous because I had asking God why me, why did you persevering and I must keep on
never given an announcement or give me this terrible stutter? Why talking because if I let this stut-
done anything, really, in front of did you make people laugh? I ter overcome me, then I have
the entire school. I would partici- walked backed into the cafeteria lost all hope. What I am trying to
pate and give presentations in my and sat in the back. I did not want convey is that people must per-
class and there I felt very com- to show myself to anyone. When severe to overcome any obstacle
fortable. But speaking in front of I came back the teacher gave that they are faced with. Maybe
the whole school made me ner- some weak speech about being one day I will not have a speech
vous. I was nervous because only respectful to all of the people in disfluency, but until then, I will
the people in my grade really the spelling bee, but everyone keep living and talking.

12. THE
STUTTERING
12 www.stutteringhelp.org FOUNDATION 800-992-9392
Dear SFA: Reader Response
Send letters to SFA, P.O. Box 11749, Memphis, TN 38111-0749 or e-mail info@stutteringhelp.org.
Friendships Help If you do stutter, don’t
Dear SFA: worry, it’s all normal. Even
I feel bad when I stutter. I some grown people do it.
can’t express what I want to Everyone stutters some-
say. When I repeat a word I time in their life. If you
get frustrated. When this have a friend who stutters,
happens, I stop and think don’t tease them about it.
about what I’m going to There are some strategies
say. Sometimes this helps people use to help themselves.
me and sometimes it does- Like me, I worked on using a
n’t. If I’m stuttering a lot, rubber band and stretching out
my friends give me signs to the first word so I don’t stutter
do smooth speech. This in the middle of the sentence.
helps me control my stutter- My name is Robbie. I’m 11 years old and I’ve There’s also using slow, easy
ing. Sometimes I tell my- been in speech for three years. I work on my speech to help the muscles in
stuttering by using strategies. The first one is your mouth not get all tight
self to do smooth speech. using a speech mountain to remind me to start
Robbie, 11 and clenched. All of these
with air and then come out with my word. the strategies can help you to stop
Winston-Salem, N.C. second is “think time”/“black out.” It helps me
think of words before I start sentences. Another stuttering if you just take your
Just Like Dancing thing I like to use is eye contact because it helps time and slow down.
Dear SFA: the person I’m talking to know that I’m not fin- Plenty of people stutter.
I don’t like it when people ished talking. So, if you stutter, you can try Although some have differ-
ask me, “Do you stutter?” If using these strategies. ent reactions when they do
they ask me, I say, “Yes, I it. Some just continue on
Robbie, 11 and don’t pay attention.
do,” and keep on going. I get
embarrassed when I stutter, Tallahassee, Fla. Others feel that they’re
but I always try to keep going. going to get nervous and
I think stuttering is like start to get worried, and that
dancing. If you practice just makes it worse. To stop
dancing you will become you need to be calm and
better, just like if you prac- don’t even think about it.
tice the tricks you learn to If people bully you or tease
not stutter, you get better at you because you stutter, just
not stuttering. walk away and don’t do any-
It is all right to stutter. So thing to them because some-
many people do it, even times the people who bully
celebrities do. If someone and tease are usually the
makes fun of you or doesn’t people who do stuff like that.
talk to you because you My name is Jordan. I am 10. I stutter with cer- They do it to let out their
stutter, that is their loss. tain letters such as W, L, and B. But I have anger on other people in-
Keep your hopes up and found some strategies to help me. I’ve found stead of trying to calm down.
keep on practicing. DON’T backing out of tension and think time and they If you just don’t worry
FEEL ALONE! help my stuttering! People used to make fun of about stuttering, you will
Courtney, 10 my stuttering. But I did a presentation in our have a good time and not
Greenwich, CT class about stuttering. Now they don’t make fun even know you do it. So, if
of me. Now that I found some speech strategies you stutter, don’t even
and the kids in my class know why I stutter, I worry about it and you will
Tips for Teasing feel awesome about stuttering!
Dear SFA: be a happy person.
Do you stutter? I know I Jordan, 10 Max
do. If you do, do your Tallahassee, Fla. Carmel, Ind.
friends tease you about it? Continued on page 13

13. THE
STUTTERING
SUMMER 2010 FOUNDATION 800-992-9392 13
Letters Continued from page 12 sister is 8. My friends make “never mind” and I walk away.
fun of my voice because I stutter. My brother also stutters. My
Feeling Confident They just copy my voice. I have sister doesn’t stutter. I have
Dear SFA: been stuttering for about three learned some strategies to not
Hi, my name is Kyle and I am years. I mostly stutter at home. stutter. One strategy is called
8 years old. I’ve been stuttering Sometimes people tell me to “spit “bouncing.” Bouncing means
for as long as I can remember. I it out.” That does not help me say that I might repeat a sound or
didn’t feel confident, but then what I want to say. I usually say word, but I do it in an easy way.
started speech class, My speech teacher lets
and learned bouncy me play games about
talk. Now, I feel more talking. I try to ignore
confident and raise my people who copy my stut-
hand in class, and talk tering. I am a great kid
to people more. and I really don’t care
Because when I didn’t about my stuttering. I try
have speech class, I to not worry about the
didn't want to talk. people who make fun of
Kyle, 8 me.
Denver, Colo. Nathan, 9
Anamosa, Iowa
Learning
About Me Eye Contact
Dear SFA: My name is Chetan. I am 10 years old and I am a
My name is Luke and good person. I live in a brick duplex in Wichita, Kan. Works
I like cars. In my picture, on the first road I am hav- Dear SFA:
I am in 4th grade. When My name is Willie. I like
I realized I sounded dif- ing a good day. On the second road, I am not having
a good day and my speech is bumpy. I need to take a to play video games. I
ferent I was five. It have been stuttering since
sounded like I ran out of deep breath and relax. I think going to speech is fun.
Chetan, 10 I was 3. I go to speech
air, and it gets quieter, class. I think it is fun. We
quieter, and quieter. I Wichita, Kan.
have worked on keeping
felt like I hated it. It is eye contact. Eye contact
easier when I am read- is important because it
ing and not talking. I am helps others know when
calm when I am writing. you are finished talking. I
I am less calm in math also learned about the
class when the teacher speech machine. I don’t
calls on me. I stutter like stuttering. I stutter
more when she calls on more when I am in my
me. If we are in a crowd classroom or talking to
I stutter more because I adults. It makes me feel
am around more people. better to know that other
This is my story. kids stutter too.
Luke Willie
Delaware Alabama
Continued on page 16
Strategy Helps
Dear SFA: I’m 91⁄2 years old and my name is Asta. I live in
My name is Nathan. I Tallahasse, Fla. Stuttering makes me feel unhappy be-
am 9 years old and I am cause children in my school make fun of me. I like to
in third grade. I like to use easy beginnings because they help me avoid stut-
play video games and I tering. I also back out of tension when I am about to
like to play baseball. I stutter. It makes my speech smoother. I gave a presen-
also like to ride my bike tation about stuttering to my classmates. Now they
and I can ramp really don’t make fun anymore. And because of my presen-
high. I have one brother tation, stuttering is much easier for me!
and one sister. My Asta, 91⁄2
brother is 10 and my Tallahasse, Fla. Willie drew this picture.

14. THE
STUTTERING
FOUNDATION
P.O. Box 11749 • Memphis, TN 38111-0749
ttering
Natio nal Stu k
Wee
Aw areness !
10-16
i s May
www.stutteringhelp.org • 800-992-9392 • www.tartamudez.org
Letters Continued from page 13 Books
4Leap of Faith by Richard Benyo. (2009)
No One’s Fault Pennsylvania Heritage Books. Available at
Dear SFA: www.amazon.com.
4Treatment of Stuttering, Established and
I hope kids around the Emerging Interventions by Barry Guitar and
world will read this. I am 10 Rebecca McCauley. (2010) Lippincott,
Williams, and Wilkin, Baltimore.
years old. I love to play www.lww.com.
sports. I play baseball, soc- 4Research on Stuttering in Pre-school and
cer, football, and basketball. I School Children by Zbigniew Tarkowski and
Ewa Malgorzata Skorek. (2009) University
started stuttering when I was Zielonogorski Press, Poland.
5. I know what it feels like to Fourth-grader Rachel of Collegeville, 4Clinical Decision Making in Fluency
be picked on by other kids. It PA, drew cars that are stuck. Disorders by Walter H. Manning. (2009)
Delmar Cengage Learning, Clifton Park, NY.
made me mad. www.cengage.com.
I go to speech class. I have 4Practical Intervention for Early Childhood
Stammering by Elaine Kelman and Alison
learned that it is not my fault This Nicholas. (2008) Speechmark Publishing,
or my parents’ fault that I drawing Ltd. Milton Keynes, U.K., www.speech-
stutter. There are other kids is by mark.net.
4Stammering, Advice for All Ages by Renee
in the world like me. It’s not Adam, Byrne and Louise Wright. (2008), Sheldon
their fault either. There are 5th grade, Press, London, www.sheldonpress.co.uk.
of Trappe, 4Speak Freely: Essential Speech Skills for
even famous people who School-Age Children Who Stutter by Mark
stutter. I have found that PA.
Allen, Ph.D., (2007) Speak Freely
singing helps me talk better. Publications, Evanston, IL , www.cfst.com.
4Beyond Stammering, Revised edition by
Try it! It might work for you. David Maguire. (2008) Souvenir Press,
Rae’ Quan, 10 London.
4Stuttering: An Integrated Approach to Its
Alabama Nature and Treatment, Third Edition by
Barry Guitar. 2006. Available from
Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 800-638-
3030, www.LWW.com.
See our Web site, www.stutteringhelp.org,
for a complete list of books.
This newsletter is published quarterly. Please e-mail address
changes and story ideas to info@stutteringhelp.org.
Volume18, Issue 3
Kids, find more inspirational Renee Shepherd . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editor
stories, fun articles, and videos Rae’ Quan drew this picture of Scot Squires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Designer
on our Web site, www.stutter- baseball and basketball, which are Special thanks to Joan Warner, Patty Reed,
inghelp.org. We have a page two sports he enjoys playing. Susie Hall, Pat Hamm, Lisa Hinton, Terri
just for you! Jones, and Carol Ecke.