40 Hours for the Forty Acres September 2022

"When I first came to the program I left. I was looking for someone to help me speak without stuttering. They told me that they could help me communicate, but I didn’t want that – I wanted to stop stuttering. After two years of trying other programs...I went back and decided to at least try. And I will be thanking them every day for the rest of my life.” - Blank Center Participant

Changing the World for People who Stutter 

The Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research (Blank Center), with our flagship at The University of Texas at Austin, a satellite in Atlanta, Georgia, and global offerings of “Camp Dream. Speak. Live.”, is changing the world for people who stutter through our commitment to making new discoveries, training students and professionals, and providing access to quality care at no cost worldwide.

“40 for Forty” is an opportunity to build awareness about stuttering and grow philanthropic support for the Blank Center’s mission.

Will you join us in helping more children, teens, and adults who stutter worldwide to “Dream. Speak. Live.”? There are a number of ways to help:

• Make a contribution. Your gift of any amount will help the Blank Center provide treatment at no cost to more children, teens, and adults who stutter, educate more speech-language pathology students and professionals, and generate more research about stuttering. Contributions will be directed to the “Dream. Speak. Live. Endowed Excellence Fund” to help sustain our mission for the years to come.
  
  
• Engage on social media. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @utstuttering and look for ways that you can post to help us build awareness about stuttering. We’d love to hear your personal story. Stuttering is neurophysiological, not psychological, but people often assume stuttering is the result of being nervous, anxious, or shy. This widespread misunderstanding about why people stutter leads many children, teens, and adults to experience bullying, teasing, social rejection, and discrimination.
  
  
• Send an email to your family and friends sharing our “40 for Forty” page so that they can learn more about stuttering and have the opportunity to support a mission that is important to you. You may be surprised to learn that you personally know several people who misunderstand why people stutter. Their lack of knowledge contributes to the stigma that children, teens, and adults who stutter experience every day. Even reaching out to one person in your personal network could make a meaningful difference in the lives of countless persons who stutter.
  
  

About the Blank Center

Today, the Arthur M. Blank Center and the three respective branches, the Michael and Tami Lang Stuttering Institute, the Dealey Family Foundation Stuttering Clinic, and the Dr. Jennifer and Emanuel Bodner Developmental Stuttering Laboratory, rests on a foundation of "Dream, Speak, Live," with the evidence-based understanding that when individuals who stutter learn that communication is not and never should be defined or limited by fluency, they have the freedom to pursue their dreams, the courage to speak from their hearts, and the determination to live their lives to the fullest.

With our flagship at UT Austin, a satellite center in Atlanta, Georgia, and more satellite centers to come around the country, the Blank Center offers daily programming at no cost for persons who stutter of all ages, races, ethnicities, cultures, and languages. We also offer an annual intensive treatment program at no cost, "Camp Dream. Speak. Live.", which has been held in Ireland, Belgium, and The Netherlands and will be launched in more countries around the world, including South Africa, Portugal, Mexico, Nigeria, Georgia, Malta, Greece, and Israel, in the years to come.

The Blank Center team is comprised of a culturally and linguistically diverse community of persons who do and do not stutter who are servant leaders, dedicated to making a difference, and experts who ensure our clinical and scholarly work is of the highest quality. Whether they are a volunteer, staff member, clinician, researcher, or student there is one thing that the members of the Blank Center community all have in common – a genuine desire to give of our lives to make a difference in the lives of as many people as we possibly can. 

Together, we strive to empower all individuals who stutter to Dream. Speak. Live.

Your support will enable Dr. Byrd and the Blank Center team to help more children, teens, and adults around the world who stutter to speak confidently, communicate effectively, and advocate meaningfully so that stuttering never stops them from living their lives to the fullest.

Learn more

If you would like to learn more about giving opportunities and ways to have an impact, please contact the Blank Center’s Director of Development, Laura McKnight, at laura.mcknight@austin.utexas.edu or (512) 784-1050.