“providing hope is a team effort. we rely on the courage and kindness of many to showcase the talents and accomplishments of people who stutter, to inspire and to shine a spotlight on what is possible.” ~ Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation
NFL's Ellis Lankster Tackles Stuttering
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ew York Jets cornerback Ellis Lankster vividly remembers his own difficulties with stuttering in the classroom. “Some kids would tease me, some teachers didn’t know if they should call on me,” Lankster said. “If the teacher asked a question and it required a fast response, I wouldn’t even try to be part of the conversation even when I knew the answer. It makes you feel alone and different. No child should feel that way in school.” Thankfully, Ellis refused to let it alter his dream of playing professional football. At school, children who stutter often face bullying and teasing, which sometimes causes more anxiety than does the speech disorder itself. Noted speech-language pathologists Bill Murphy, suggests teachers make stuttering an open topic for discussion. One exercise a teacher can use is to discuss famous people who stutter. “I remember Mrs. Smith, my 5th grade teacher back in Alabama,” said Lankster. “She really understood what it took to include me in the class. It made a real difference.” The Stuttering Foundation announced that Lankster was presented with the Foundation's "Converting Awareness into Action" Award for all he has done to inspire those who stutter. Jane Fraser, President of the Stuttering Foundation, stated, "Ellis shows his true toughness by sharing his struggles with
fluency as a child. He refused to let his stutter keep him from his dream of playing professional football, and he is committed to helping and inspiring children attain their dreams by overcoming the obstacles they face." Stuttering, is a communication disorder that causes things such as abnormal stoppages in speech or words broken by repetition. It affects more than 68 million people worldwide and over three million in the United States alone. For many children, stuttering can be a difficult battle to face and many children suffer from being picked on. Having a celebrity and professional football player who has lived with stuttering play such an active role in awareness is amazing. Lankster shows children that stuttering does not mean you can't live your dream. Lankster is proof that anything is possible. –––––––––––– Malcolm Fraser, a successful businessman who stuttered, went on to establish and endow the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation in 1947. The Stuttering Foundation provides a toll-free helpline, 800-992-9392, and free online resources on their Web site: www.StutteringHelp.org, including services, referrals and support to people who stutter and their families, as well as support for research into the causes of stuttering.
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