Thanks for helping kids and parents deal with stuttering

As the parent of a child who stutters, I was quite pleased when someone e-mailed me your article "New DVD can help kids who stutter" from the April 13 Thousand Oaks Acorn.

My wife and I have known the Stuttering Foundation of America (www.stutteringhelp.org) to be most helpful. They have a whole slew of books and DVDs for both adults and children who stutter, in addition to the one mentioned in your article.

My wife and I find the Stuttering Foundation invaluable for two reasons. First, their website offers a national listing of qualified speech therapists who specialize in stuttering. For far too long, parents have fallen prey to "quick fixes" for their children that carry a hefty price tag and promise fluency.

Second, another feature of their website is their list of Famous People Who Stutter. This list consists of people who either stutter, have stuttered in the past, or still use neat tricks to guide them to fluency. The people listed have distinguished themselves in the areas of acting, sports, government, business and literature.

Some of the names are Bruce Willis, Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, Peggy Lipton, Tom Sizemore, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, King George VI, Julia Roberts and many others. For my daughter, this list shows to her that success in life can be achieved despite a stuttering, and in some cases that the stuttering problem can be successfully overcome. My wife and I feel that every young person who stutters should review this list.

Thank you for running the article about the Stuttering Foundation's new DVD for kids who stutter. The topic of stuttering receives little press these days and I applaud you for bringing it to the forefront so that children can be helped. Edward S. Herrington Longmeadow, Mass.

The article he's referring to told about the DVD "Stuttering: For Kids by Kids" that's available at the Thousand Oaks Library.