When Michael Kidd-Gilchrist recently sat in front of Nova Southeastern University speech-language pathology faculty and students, he made one thing clear: “I don’t like talking, and I never will.”
He told the crowd about times he spent in the principal’s office after his teacher asked him to read aloud in class and he refused.
His actions were not a product of disobedience, he says, but a part of what would be a lifetime of dealing with a stutter.
“It’s lonely,” said the National Basketball Association veteran and University of Kentucky Men’s Basketball Champion to a crowded room of students, faculty, and members of the stuttering community on Wednesday, Oct. 25, at NSU.
Kidd-Gilchrist calls himself lucky, though, despite his stutter. His towering height and athletic abilities have not only brought him success, but often provided a way to mask his condition. When his family was looking at colleges, he said, they sought out campuses with clinics. UK was a perfect fit, allowing Kidd-Gilchrist to play basketball for legendary Wildcats Coach John Calipari, and also have an opportunity to work with his first speech-language pathologist.
“I remember a time when I didn’t want anyone to know about my stutter,” he said. “When I entered speech therapy at the University of Kentucky, I told my therapist that I didn’t want anyone to know.”
As his connection with his therapist grew, Kidd-Gilchrist learned how to use a metronome to time his speech and also developed ways of overcoming adversity both physical and mental.
“My speech-language pathologist helped me start to understand that I wasn’t broken,” he said. “She was always there for me.”
Yet there still were struggles. Being good at basketball meant being in the spotlight. And being in the spotlight meant the dreaded microphones and interviews.
“I felt like I was teased in the media and couldn’t say anything back,” Kidd-Gilchrist said.
After being drafted in 2012 by the NBA as the second overall pick of the first round, Kidd-Gilchrist played in the NBA for nine years, mostly with Charlotte. While spending time in the NBA “bubble” in 2020, Kidd-Gilchrist began reflecting on his journey as a person who stutters. He wanted to turn his knowledge and experience into something that would help others who stutter.
“I have a responsibility to speak out for others,” he said. “Not because I have to do it, but because I want to do it.”
In 2021, he founded Change & Impact, Inc., a stuttering initiative with a mission to improve access to health care and expand services and resources for those who stutter.
NSU speech-language pathology Professor Rachel Williams, the facilitator of Kidd-Gilchrist’s university visit, explained that often stuttering sessions are not covered by insurance, because stuttering is a condition that has no definitive end point.
Since Change & Impact’s inception, Kidd-Gilchrist has been on a national speaking circuit visiting universities, hospitals, stuttering camps, and support groups. His goal is to raise awareness about gaps in the health care system for those who stutter, and the medical need to improve speech therapy insurance coverage for stuttering.
Kidd-Gilchrist shared his life as an SLP patient, student, father, husband, and basketball player during his visit to NSU. Besides his speaking engagement, he met with top administrators with the Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences, received a tour of the Davie Campus, and also toured NSU’s speech-language pathology clinic. He closed his visit at NSU by thanking the students and faculty who have pursued the speech-language pathology field.
“I appreciate that you wanted to get into this field,” he said. “In doing so, you have an opportunity to help someone.”
