The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has announced a $12.25 million grant in support of research into and treatment of stuttering.

The grant will launch an Atlanta location of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research, which was established at the University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication in 2020 with a ten-year, $20 million grant from the Blank Family Foundation. The Blank Center works to advance understanding about the nature and effective treatment of stuttering; scale evidence-based programming to treat children, teenagers, and adults at no cost; and create a pipeline of expert clinicians and researchers to make quality, effective treatment accessible to all people.

While traditional treatment for stuttering is focused on fluency, the Blank Center locations will apply the evidence-based, whole-person therapeutic approach developed by founding and executive director Courtney Byrd, which is aimed at helping children, teenagers, and adults grow as confident, effective communicators. Over the next decade, additional satellite centers will be established across the United States, and Byrd’s intensive treatment program will be launched in Nigeria, South Africa, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Malta, Pakistan, Norway, and Mexico.

“Partnering with Dr. Byrd and the University of Texas’ Moody College is truly a gift to me. I am a stutterer, and stuttering has genetically been part of my family for as long as I can remember,” said Arthur M. Blank. “Stuttering has no bounds and no bias; it impacts people of all ages and from all walks of life. I’m thrilled to see this center come to life and be able to serve the people of Atlanta and this region.”

(Photo credit: GettyImages/Katarzyna Bialasiewicz)