Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who played 8 seasons in the NBA, is an advocate for better treatment for those who stutter
Former NBA star and advocate for people who stutter Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will visit the University of Rhode Island along with area middle schools Nov. 7 to meet with children and adults who stutter, and share his journey to athletic and business success despite being a lifelong stutterer himself.
Kidd-Gilchrist, who played eight seasons in the NBA, mostly with the Charlotte Hornets, is CEO of Change & Impact, a nonprofit organization he founded in 2021 to improve health care access for individuals who stutter and expand the resources available to them. The issue is personal to him, and part of his mission is to meet with other people who stutter, share his experiences, and inspire them to move beyond the often lifelong disorder to find success and happiness, according to Alisa Baron, assistant professor of communicative disorders, who is organizing Kidd-Gilchrist’s visit.
“I think a lot of people who stutter feel very alone; many kids and adults who have come in for therapy say they’ve never met another person who stutters,” said Baron, who teaches a graduate class on stuttering at URI. “So you can think about how lonely they may feel. Many people who stutter struggle with their mental health. There is so much variability in their speech. Every day you wake up, you don’t know how you’re going to stutter. It changes day-to-day or week-to-week, and that can be difficult to handle every day when you speak. That’s one of the reasons he wants to meet with adolescents, because that’s a tough time to be different.”
Kidd-Gilchrist will meet with students who stutter at three area schools Nov. 7, beginning with Warwick Veterans Memorial Middle School, followed by North Kingstown High School and Westerly Middle School. Speech language pathologists in the school districts are arranging for transportation across schools for students who stutter to meet with Kidd-Gilchrist.
Kidd-Gilchrist’s visit will culminate with a presentation on the URI Kingston Campus, in the Beaupre Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences, room 100, at 6 p.m. His presentation is free and open to the public, though registration is encouraged here. Families with children who stutter, adults who stutter, speech language pathologists, and others who are interested in learning more about stuttering are encouraged to attend to hear his inspiring story first-hand, and learn how to overcome obstacles stuttering may present.
“Having someone who has been successful in their career say ‘Hey, I stutter, and I’ve been able to navigate life while stuttering and do well for myself,’ is a lived experience that people who stutter can feel encouraged by and maybe motivated,” Baron said. “He didn’t let his stutter hold him back from pursuing his dream in sports, and doing well at the national level; being in the NBA is a huge accomplishment. Everyone has a different journey, but there are a lot of commonalities, and I think kids and adults who stutter will be able to identify with his story.”
Kidd-Gilchrist is a voice for the stuttering community before federal and state legislators. Last year on Capitol Hill, he facilitated the establishment of the Bipartisan Unified Voices Caucus, which advocates for individuals with communication challenges and primarily focuses on stuttering. This year, Kentucky and Pennsylvania passed state mandates to require insurance plans to include coverage for habilitative and rehabilitative speech therapy treatment for childhood stuttering. As the leader of Change & Impact, Kidd-Gilchrist continues to travel around the country to lobby state legislatures for such change.
“He is actively trying to improve supports for those who stutter state-by-state,” Baron said. “He’s doing incredible work.”