On Tuesday, the American Institute for Stuttering held its 19th Annual Gala with the theme “Just Listen,” encouraging people to listen and learn from people who stutter.
The gala’s speakers included Emily Blunt, AIS Executive Director Dr. Heather Grossman, AIS Board Chair Eric Dinallo, the night’s honorees — former NBA forward Michael Anthony Kidd-Gilchrist and Citadel’s Chief Legal Officer Shawn Fagan — and two young AIS clients.
The AIS is a non-profit organization providing speech therapy and community support for people who stutter. Founded in 1988, the organization works to break the stigma around stuttering through efforts like its yearly PSA.
Blunt, who has worked with AIS since 2006, hosted the event. As a child, Blunt was often isolated from her peers because of her stutter. She told The Knockturnal that she advocates for people who stutter in hopes of breaking the stigma surrounding the speech disorder.
I thought it was important that people didn’t feel lonely in [stuttering], that they knew they had a sense of belonging,” Blunt said. “There’s a community, there’s a whole family, there’s a whole population of people who were born with the same neurological issue.”
Blunt told The Knockturnal that she enjoys working with AIS, and it gives her hope for the future of stuttering awareness.
“[Stuttering] is a disability that lives in the shadows too much, so I think if we can keep raising awareness and get people to just listen and stop bullying … that would be huge,” Blunt said.
Blunt works closely with AIS Director Dr. Grossman, who explained the importance of the gala to The Knockturnal.
This is our primary fundraiser, so most of the money that’s raised here tonight will go to help people who cannot afford speech therapy have scholarships throughout the year,” Dr. Grossman said.
Gala honoree Kidd-Gilchrist recognizes the importance of AIS and is the newest member of the organization’s board. The former NBA star helped pass legislation expanding insurance to cover speech therapy for people with stutters in states like Kentucky and Pennsylvania. He told The Knockturnal he was honored to be recognized at the gala.
“It feels great, you know,” Kidd-Gilchrist said. “As a kid, I never really thought that this would happen.”
Growing up, Kidd-Gilchrist often felt lonely because of his stutter. This isolation continued when he was in the NBA, as he didn’t know other people with a speech difference. During his honoree acceptance speech, Kidd-Gilchrist said he became “tired of running” from his speech difference, which led him to leave the NBA and focus his energy on learning about stuttering and helping the stuttering community. In his speech, he emphasized the importance of accepting his speech difference.
[In my life] I was dealt cards that were good and bad. But for this thing called a stutter, I didn’t know where to put it — the good side or the bad side,” Kidd-Gilchrist said. “But I think, over time, I learned, it is neither. It is just stutter.”
Click here to learn more about the AIS.