Supervisor Dean Preston and Proud Stutter Pass Resolution to Recognize Stuttering Awareness Week in San Francisco

Yesterday afternoon, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution authored by District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston in partnership with Proud Stutter and the wider Bay Area stuttering community to acknowledge Stuttering Awareness Week, May 13—May 19, 2024.

“I am honored to recognize the experiences of San Francisco’s stuttering community. My hope is that our resolution will be one of many around the country and that we can collectively create awareness and destigmatize the stuttering experience, which affects over three million Americans.”

Stuttering impacts over 70 million people worldwide and over three million Americans. When stuttering continues into adulthood, a person may have difficulty communicating with other people and stuttering may affect a person’s quality of life, interpersonal relationships, job opportunities, and professional growth.

“Hiding my stutter was always a burden I took on alone. Ever since I could talk, I felt misunderstood and isolated from my peers,” said Maya Chupkov, host of Proud Stutter. “Since becoming a stuttering advocate and being open about my speech disability, I’ve found my people. Our voices deserve to be heard, which is why I’m creating a documentary on an underrepresented voice in our community. I am so grateful that we get to celebrate another Stuttering Awareness Week with each other.”

In 1988, Paul Castellano and Barbara Hubbard Koval led the effort to win Congressional recognition for people who stutter with a proclamation establishing the second week of May as National Stuttering Awareness Week. San Francisco passed its first Stuttering Awareness Week resolution in 2022, the first city in California to do so. The state followed suit the year after with Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas, a person who stutters, signing a proclamation establishing California’s Stuttering Awareness Week. Both initiatives were led by Maya Chupkov of Proud Stutter.

“Stuttering not only is still stigmatized but it is also widely misunderstood,” said Nina G, Bay Area comedian and author of the memoir Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn’t Happen. “Not enough is being done to help normalize stuttering, many who stutter experience discrimination in their jobs and personal lives – myself included. That is why I am so excited about Proud Stutter, a podcast hosted by a woman working to reduce the stigma associated with stuttering and bringing light to this issue through creative storytelling and advocacy.”

In a rally in Georgia in March 2024, former President Donald Trump mocked President Joe Biden’s stutter, drawing laughter from supporters. Trump’s ridiculing of Biden comes as advocates have built broader acceptance of speech diversity.

“In the stories I tell, I often find myself drawn to the theme of defying expectations,” said Gina Chin-Davis, a woman who stutters and filmmaker. “Yes, stuttering impacts how we experience and show up in the world, but at the same time, it’s just another part of who we are. Art has the power to show and celebrate our multitudes, and that is the kind of representation I want to create and see more of.”

“It’s critical that public officials and leaders at universities, companies, and organizations create safe spaces for people with stutters and any disability,” said Mike Meaney, a person who stutters and a technology researcher based in San Jose. “This allows differently abled people to thrive and for them to know that nobody is discounting them for something beyond their control – that people do not discount what we say because of how we say it.”

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