Questions About Stuttering Charities
What are organizations such as the Stuttering Foundation, the National Stuttering Association, and the British Stammering Association doing well?
Do you have any suggestions or ideas for what any of these organizations could do better?
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has reduced malaria 50% in six years. Should stuttering organizations set similar goals?
Rate the order of importance of these organizations’ activities:
- Organizing national conventions for stutterers.
- Organizing local support groups.
- Training speech-language pathologists.
- Raising public awareness of stuttering.
- Getting celebrities who stutter involved.
- Supporting research.
- Providing information about stuttering treatments.
- Developing self-therapy materials that stutterers can do on their own.
- Helping stutterers accept their disability and facilitating emotional support.
- Providing information about funding for stuttering treatment, such as health insurance and government programs.
My opinions are on my blog 14 Ideas For the Stuttering Foundation’s Next President.
To summarize my blog, “old school” foundations spend money for stuff that can’t be measured: raising public awareness, providing emotional support, signing up celebrities, etc. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation changed this. They set measurable goals, develop strategies to achieve those goals, and then measure and test the results until the goals are achieved. Malaria is one of the most difficult diseases, yet they reduced the prevalence of malaria 50% in just six years.
I wrote in my blog that stuttering is easier to treat than malaria, so if a stuttering charity were to follow the path of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation we could reduce stuttering 50% in five years.
From my experience, the Stuttering Foundation does a great job of disseminating information about stuttering to people who stutter and their families as well as providing training opportunities and information to speech therapists. Support groups in the U.S. and abroad do quite well in providing both local and national support for people who stutter and their families as well as information about stuttering. In addition, many of them also provide information to speech therapists. The National Stuttering Association has added a biannual research symposium that is held just before and in connection with their annual convention. This has been a very successful way to provide a venue for current research to be presented and discussed, and to train speech therapists; it also makes it quite easy for them to attend and participate in the NSA convention. What all of these groups accomplish seem quite consistent with their missions.
I wouldn’t compare the work of the Stuttering Foundation and support groups with research efforts to eradicate a disease.
All the best, Lynne Shields
Dear Thomas,
Thank you for your question because it gives me the opportunity to highlight the sterling work both the Stuttering Foundation and the British Stammering Association are doing.
As a lecturer, I find the Stuttering Foundation DVDs an excellent resource for training both undergraduates and fluency specialists.
As a clinician, I find the Stuttering Foundation’s brochures very helpful to parents, employers, people who stutter, teachers etc. They also support awareness campaigns around the world.
I suggest these organizations should keep up the good work.
I also found your opinions on the blog quite interesting.
Best regards,
Joseph Agius
Stuttering is easier to treat than malaria? Would you please explain this statement?
Kevin Eldridge
Severe malaria is treated with IV medications, preferably in a critical care unit as symptoms include high fevers, seizures, breathing problems, and blood chemistry problems. Multi-drug resistant strains are now emerging. Severe malaria can progress rapidly and cause death in days or hours. In children, malaria can cause brain damage.