ASC Launches Stamback In Time
Action for Stammering Children are very excited to announce the launch of our new project, Stamback in Time. The ASC Youth Panel will be working in partnership with the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) on this exciting project over the next 2 years, uncovering the history of stammering in the UK.
The project has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and with their help, our Youth Panel will bring the history of stammering to life – including some of the great figures of the past and present who stammer, the way in which society viewed stammering – to challenge societal misconceptions today, and provide a fun, educational resource for children and young people.
They will also be looking at a more general history of stammering – how stammering has been viewed by society, the misunderstanding and superstition, stories and folk myths that grew around stammering, the various “cures” that have been proposed, and how this affected the lives of people who stammered. We will place the individuals we are researching into their more detailed historical context and use this to throw light on stammering today – how has greater understanding led to developments in therapy and changed how stammerers are viewed by society in general? What has the past taught us? And where do we go from here?
The work will show how, despite facing prejudice and misconception, people who stammer have throughout history been able to succeed and contribute significantly to society.
Over the two-year period, the ASC Youth Panel will produce a fun interactive microsite including online games, a leaflet and a celebratory launch and exhibition in 2020.
We will be looking at the following historical figures:
George VI
Played by ASC Vice President Colin Firth in the Oscar winning ‘King’s Speech’, King George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. In the mid-1920s, he had speech therapy for his stammer, which affected him his whole life.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was known to suffer from a stammer, but this didn’t hold him back making some of the most iconic speeches of recent times.
Ed Balls
Former Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, and ASC Vice President had an interesting political career, whilst also being very open later in his career about his stammer.
Marilyn Monroe
A known stammerer, Marilyn Monroe was an American actress and model, born Norma Jean Mortenson.
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt is a British actor born in London on 23 February 1983. From the age of seven she has struggled with a stammer and has been very vocal in her support for stammering awareness.
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran was born 17 February 1991 and is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He is vocal about his stammer in childhood, but it hasn’t held him back from becoming one of the biggest selling artist of recent years.
Please keep an eye on our website and social media platforms for further updates on the project! You can find them here:
www.actionforstammeringchildren.org
www.facebook.com/ActionForStammeringChildren/
