It is estimated that more than 60 million people in the world stutter, including 5% of all children.

Kids who stutter often struggle to step out of the shadows of shyness and shame, and find the courage to express their unique and important voices. While much is unknown about stuttering, including its causes and cures, children who stutter, along with their families and friends, can attest to the pain and frustration the disorder causes. Kids who stutter struggle with everything from participating in class, to speaking on the phone, to ordering in restaurants, to making friends. Stuttering can claim a child’s desire to speak and ultimately their ability to reach their fullest potential. To shield themselves from judgment and ridicule, kids who stutter put up walls and socially shut down. Our Time empowers these kids to break down those walls.

Our Time is a non-profit organization that uses the arts to help improve the confidence and communication skills of children who stutter, ages 5-18. Our Time participants gain enriching friendships and experience tangible success, giving them the confidence to overcome the challenges presented by stuttering.

Our Time has two core programs that help kids who stutter:
1) Camp Our Time is a sleep-away camp that welcomes children who stutter, as well as their young family members and friends, ages 8-18, from across the nation and abroad.
2) Our Time NYC is a year-round program that serves children who stutter, ages 5-18, from the New York Tri-State area.

As 17-year-old Jonathan Greig described his experience with Our Time: “Because I could never string a sentence of words together without stumbling over one vowel or consonant, I was without a voice. My opinion was never heard and my thoughts, beliefs and feelings were forced to stay in the recesses of my mind. Then I found theater. I joined Our Time in 2002 and it changed my life.”

To see these kids get in front of an audience and speak, which is difficult for anyone, is incredibly moving. What they do just speaks to the power of joining a group and gaining confidence. Our Time NYC serves all its members free of charge, and offers financial aid for kids in need for Camp Our Time. The organization depends on individuals and institutions to help sustain their vital work. Please help out so we can continue to let these kids have a voice.

Thanks, Paul

PS - To learn more about Our Time, please visit www.ourtimestutter.org.