SAY: The Stuttering Association for the Young

Our mission is to empower young people who stutter and inspire the world to treat them with compassion and respect, so they can achieve their dreams. Our vision is a world where every voice matters.

See a full listing of our upcoming & recent events, and upcoming programs at SAY.org/events

The Stuttering Association for the Young (formerly known as Our Time) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that for more than a decade has provided life-changing experiences for children who stutter.

Taro Alexander, renowned actor, director, teacher, and person who stutters, founded the organization in 2001 to provide a truly unique and accepting environment for children who stutter.

A Brief History Of Our Programs:
• SAY’s innovative year-round programming began with an emphasis on the performing arts, with children writing their own plays and songs that they later performed for parents, friends and the public. Filmmaking was added, enabling children and teens who stutter to write their own short films and star in them, too.

• The Listen benefit album, a collection of 15 original songs, was written by young people who stutter and was recorded by iconic artists across all musical genres including Carly Simon, Daryl Hall & John Oates, John Forté, Duncan Sheik, Mandy Patinkin, Everett Bradley and more.

• Summer camp was launched to provide a highly immersive experience for young people who stutter, as well as their young family members and friends. Young people can meet other children who stutter from across the U.S. and beyond. Camp enrollments have increased by more than 300% and our seventh camp season begins in August.

• The SAY speech therapy program was established under the leadership of a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist who is uniquely experienced in working with children who stutter.
• Public speaking and advocacy components were introduced to our Confidence Boosters After-School programming to empower children to speak up and be heard in school and in their community.

• Over the past 13 years, our leadership team has presented important information about stuttering in a broad range of settings across the world, including educational institutions such as Columbia University, NYU, CUNY and more; New York City Department of Education Staff Development Days; conferences & conventions including the National Stuttering Association Conferences across the US; American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention; Friends Conferences (from New Jersey to San Francisco); the International Fluency Association World Congress in Montreal & Dublin, and VSA Arts in Washington, D.C.

• SAY’s innovative year-round programming began with an emphasis on the performing arts.

• We have received several prestigious awards including the Charles Van Riper Award from the National Council on Communicative Disorders (awarded at the Kennedy Center), and a 2013 Special Citation from the NY State Speech-Language Hearing Association.

• Our organization is featured frequently in the press including: ABC News, CBS Sunday Morning, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, TODAY, 20/20, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, USA Today and more.

Since 2001, SAY: The Stuttering Association for the Young has been helping transform the lives of young people who stutter, by building confidence, self-esteem, communication skills and friendships.
Our Programs & How We Help
SAY offers comprehensive, innovative programs that address the physical, social and emotional impacts of stuttering including:
Confidence Boosterssm After-School Programs: Our unique approach helps young people develop essential communication skills, forge new friendships and fully express their thoughts, ideas and dreams.
Effective communication is at the core of the performing arts, and SAY was the first organization to utilize this impactful approach to empower young people who stutter. Engaging kids and teens through various types of performing arts - with no pressure to perform - we build communication skills and expand comfort zones. It's this unique, transformative experience, delivered in an accepting and supportive environment that allows many children to express themselves fully for the first time in their lives. New programs are starting shortly.
Speech Therapy: Our Speech Therapy program provides comprehensive stuttering treatment that incorporates physical strategies to make speaking easier, as well as education, fear reduction, counseling and parent/family integration. We help young people who stutter build self-confidence, enjoy greater independence, increase school participation and advocate for themselves. Individual and group speech therapy sessions are provided by a Speech-Language pathologist who works exclusively with young people who stutter.
Camp SAY: Our 2-week, sleep-away summer camp welcomes young people who stutter, ages 8-18, and their young family members and friends. Camp SAY provides a uniquely fun, highly immersive and transformative experience for young people who stutter. Parents and campers call Camp SAY life-changing. Learn more at CampSAY.org
Financial Aid: is available and to date, no child has been turned away from our programs. Our office is located at: 330 West 42nd Street, New York, NY.
Learn more at SAY.org or by contacting us via email: info@SAY.org or phone: 212-414-9696.