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Formation | 1947 |
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Founder | Malcolm Fraser |
Type | NGO |
Legal status | 501(c)(3) organization |
Purpose | Stuttering therapy |
Headquarters | Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
Coordinates | 35°04′56″N89°53′57″W / 35.082155°N 89.899131°W |
Region served | United States |
President | Jane Fraser |
Website | stutteringhelp.org |
The Stuttering Foundation of America provides free online resources, services and support to those who stutter and their families, as well as support for research into the causes of stuttering. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, The Stuttering Foundation was established by Malcolm Fraser in 1947 in Memphis, Tennessee. [1] The Stuttering Foundation provides a toll-free helpline, free printed and online resources including books, pamphlets, videos, posters, referral services, support and information for people who stutter and their families, and research into the causes of stuttering. [2]
Today, Malcolm Fraser's daughter, Jane Fraser, is president of the Foundation.
In 1947, Malcolm Fraser, a young man from Memphis, Tennessee, knew about stuttering from personal, often painful experience. [3] He decided to do what he could to help others who stutter, and met with one of the foremost authorities of the day, Dr. Charles Van Riper, to discuss founding a nonprofit charitable organization. The organization Fraser founded became today's Stuttering Foundation of America. Its goal was to provide the best and most up-to-date information and help available for the prevention of stuttering in young children and the most effective treatment available for teenagers and adults. Today, the Foundation dedicates itself to the contemporary concerns of all those who stutter.[ citation needed ]
Malcolm Fraser knew from personal experience what the person who stutters is up against. His introduction to stuttering corrective procedures first came at the age of fifteen under the direction of Frederick Martin, M.D., who at that time was Superintendent of Speech Correction for the New York City schools. A few years later, he worked with J. Stanley Smith, L.L.D., a stutterer and philanthropist, who, for altruistic reasons, founded the Kingsley Clubs in Philadelphia and New York that were named after the English author Charles Kingsley, who also stuttered. The Kingsley Clubs were small groups of adult stutterers who met one night a week to try out treatment ideas then in effect. In fact, they were actually practicing group therapy as they talked about their experiences and exchanged ideas. This exchange gave each of the members a better understanding of the problem. The founder often led the discussions at both clubs. In 1928 he joined his older brother Carlyle, who founded the NAPA Genuine Parts Company that year in Atlanta, Georgia. Malcolm Fraser became an important leader in the company and was particularly outstanding in training others for leadership roles. In 1947, with a successful career under way, he founded the Stuttering Foundation of America. In subsequent years, he generously added $20 million to the endowment so that at the present time, endowment income covers over fifty percent of the operating budget. [4] In 1989, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, presented Fraser with the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters for his outstanding work on behalf of those who stutter. Malcolm Fraser was honored posthumously with the Charles Van Riper Award, presented by actor James Earl Jones at the 16th annual NCCD Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C., September 1997. Established by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in 1995, the Van Riper Award was given to Fraser for his outstanding commitment to people who stutter.
The Foundation is turning its attention more and more to basic research in an effort to improve early detection and develop better therapies:
Neuroimaging studies have greatly enhanced the potential to understand brain-behavior relationships in complex behaviors such as speech and language. Recent studies by Anne Foundas, M.D., [5] Department of Neurology, LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, reveal evidence that anatomic anomalies may play a role in stuttering.
Finding the genes involved in stuttering holds the promise of revealing some of the underlying causes of stuttering. The Foundation is actively involved in projects by Dr. Dennis Drayna [6] of the National Institute on Deafness and other Communicative Disorders searching for genetic markers. In February 2010, Drayna's research team identified the first three genes for stuttering. [7]
From its inception, one of the primary goals of the Foundation has been to discuss and attempt to resolve the many questions surrounding stuttering. Through the years, the Foundation has met this challenge through a variety of educational meetings, seminars and resources, including:
Press releases have resulted in stories in print and segments on stuttering in the broadcast media, including CBS This Morning, The Today Show, CNN, [11] NPR, [12] and AP wire stories.[ citation needed ]
The Foundation's toll-free line is accessed by more than 20,000 callers each year.[ citation needed ]
In an alliance to help children who stutter through research, treatment and training programs, the Stuttering Foundation and the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children joined forces in 2006. [13] The Michael Palin Centre based in London is widely considered one of the premier treatment centers in the world for childhood stuttering. [14]
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association gave the Distinguished Service Award to the Foundation for its "dedication and effective contributions to the field of speech pathology." [15] In 1984, Malcolm Fraser received the fourth annual National Council on Communicative Disorders Distinguished Service Award. The NCCD, a council of 32 national organizations, recognized the Foundation's efforts in "adding to stutterers, parents, clinicians, and the public's awareness and ability to deal constructively with stuttering."
In 2007, president Jane Fraser was named the Nonprofit Executive of the Year by The NonProfit Times . [16] The Foundation has sponsored educational conferences, workshops and symposia, [17] and week-long intensive training workshops for speech-language pathologists. [18]
Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized externally by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the person who stutters is unable to produce sounds.
A communication disorder is any disorder that affects an individual's ability to comprehend, detect, or apply language and speech to engage in dialogue effectively with others. This also encompasses deficiencies in verbal and non-verbal communication styles. The delays and disorders can range from simple sound substitution to the inability to understand or use one's native language. This article covers subjects such as diagnosis, the DSM-IV, the DSM-V, and examples like sensory impairments, aphasia, learning disabilities, and speech disorders.
Speech disorders or speech impairments are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean fluency disorders like stuttering, cluttering or lisps. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech skills are vital to social relationships and learning, and delays or disorders that relate to developing these skills can impact individuals function. For many children and adolescents, this can present as issues with academics. Speech disorders affect roughly 11.5% of the US population, and 5% of the primary school population. Speech is a complex process that requires precise timing, nerve and muscle control, and as a result is susceptible to impairments. A person who has a stroke, an accident or birth defect may have speech and language problems.
The School of Visual Arts New York City is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design.
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Research Triangle Park (RTP) is the largest research park in the United States, occupying 7,000 acres (2,833 ha) in North Carolina and hosting more than 300 companies and 65,000 workers. It is owned and managed by the Research Triangle Foundation, a private non-profit organization.
Cluttering is a speech and communication disorder characterized by a rapid rate of speech, erratic rhythm, and poor syntax or grammar, making speech difficult to understand.
The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), a member of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, is mandated to conduct and support biomedical and behavioral research and research training in the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, and language. The institute also conducts and supports research and research training related to disease prevention and health promotion; addresses special biomedical and behavioral problems associated with people who have communication impairments or disorders; and supports efforts to create devices which substitute for lost and impaired sensory and communication function.
Matthew Scully is an American author, journalist, and political writer who has also written on animal welfare.
Speech–language pathology (also known as speech and language pathology or logopedics) is a healthcare and academic discipline concerning the evaluation, treatment, and prevention of communication disorders, including expressive and mixed receptive-expressive language disorders, voice disorders, speech sound disorders, speech disfluency, pragmatic language impairments, and social communication difficulties, as well as swallowing disorders across the lifespan. It is an allied health profession regulated by professional bodies including the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and Speech Pathology Australia. The field of speech-language pathology is practiced by a clinician known as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) or a speech and language therapist (SLT). SLPs also play an important role in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often in collaboration with pediatricians and psychologists.
Spasmodic dysphonia, also known as laryngeal dystonia, is a disorder in which the muscles that generate a person's voice go into periods of spasm. This results in breaks or interruptions in the voice, often every few sentences, which can make a person difficult to understand. The person's voice may also sound strained or they may be nearly unable to speak. Onset is often gradual and the condition is lifelong.
There are many references to stuttering in popular culture. Because of the unusual-sounding speech that is produced, as well as the behaviors and attitudes that accompany a stutter, stuttering has been a subject of scientific interest, curiosity, discrimination, and ridicule.
This article lists those who were potential candidates for the Republican nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 2008 election. On March 4, 2008, Senator John McCain of Arizona won the 2008 Republican nomination for President of the United States, and became the presumptive nominee.
Malcolm Hough Fraser (1903–1994) was an American businessman. He founded the Genuine Parts Company with his brother in 1928 and the Stuttering Foundation of America in 1947, giving the latter most of its $10 million endowment. He was the recipient of the fourth annual National Council on Communicative Disorders Distinguished Service Award in 1984.
Stuttering therapy is any of the various treatment methods that attempt to reduce stuttering to some degree in an individual. Stuttering can be seen as a challenge to treat because there is a lack of consensus about therapy.
Charles Gage Van Riper was a renowned speech therapist who became internationally known as a pioneer in the development of speech pathology. A severe stutterer throughout his career, he is described as having had the most influence of any speech-language pathologist in the field of stuttering.
The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering is a specialist centre for speech and language therapy for stammering in London, England. It officially opened in 1993 as a joint initiative between the charity Association for Research into Stammering in Childhood and the Camden & Islington Community Health Services NHS Trust. It is now run by the Whittington Health NHS Trust with support from Action for Stammering Children and the Stuttering Foundation of America. It is located in Pine Street, central London.
The Indian Stammering Association (TISA) is a public charitable trust and self-help movement for people in India who stammer. In India a person who stammers (PWS) faces stigma at home and in public, as often parents chide their children publicly, and social acceptance is not high.
Dennis T. Drayna is an American human geneticist known for his contributions to stuttering, human haemochromatosis, pitch, and taste. He is currently the Section Chief of Genetics of Communication Disorders at the U.S. National Institute for Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.