By Olivia Wynkoop. Bay City News.
San Francisco city officials are calling on California to be the first state in the nation to officially recognize Stuttering Awareness Week.
At Tuesday's San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting, supervisors unanimously passed a resolution calling on the state to pass Assembly Resolution 59, which would dedicate the second week of May to people who stutter.
Held from May 8 to 13, the nationally recognized awareness week in 1988 aims to showcase and encourage the stuttering community.
San Francisco, which reportedly has 8,000 residents who stutter, was the first city in the state to declare Stuttering Awareness Week last year.
“I am honored to recognize and encourage the San Francisco stuttering community,” said Supervisor Dean Preston, a sponsor of the local resolution. His office said that adults who stutter may encounter obstacles in communicating with others and can affect their quality of life, relationships, employment and career growth.
"It's important that we spread awareness about this speech disability, and I hope other cities in California and other states pass resolutions to help shed light on stuttering," he added.
Johnnie Pina, an advocate and a person who stutters, said ACR 59 is "way overdue."
“ACR 59 says that people who stutter are not only welcome in California communities, but their voices are needed at the state capitol and in town halls across California,” Pina noted.
Proud Stutter, a San Francisco-based podcast about changing the way we talk about stuttering, is hosting numerous festivities in the Bay Area in honor of National Stuttering Awareness Week. Preston thanked Proud Stutter CEO and host Maya Chupkov for her advocacy at Tuesday's meeting.
"Changing the way we understand and talk about stuttering is critical if we are to finally overcome the damaging and traumatizing stereotypes we see in popular culture," Chupkov explained. "Spreading more awareness through advocacy, educational campaigns and storytelling can allow people who stutter to realize that they are not alone and that there is a community out there for them."
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