"King's Speech" Praised By Chicago Kids Who Stutter

By Anna Deem in News on Feb 5, 2011 6:45PM

A movie about a stuttering monarch doesn't exactly sound like a box-office smash, but "The King's Speech" has not only been garnering awards left and right, it also has demystified an issue that nearly 70 million people around the world have to deal with. The film depicts King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II, as a leader tormented by his stuttering. He manages to summon his courage and seek speech therapy to help England as they prepare to enter a second world war.

King George VI's bravery has also impacted many children in Chicago the deal with stuttering. Erik Yehl, an 11-year-old Chicago boy who has been stuttering since preschool, told the Huffington Post that the movie's poignant message is, "I'm not stupid." Yehl described the film as hard to watch at times because it hit so close to home.

"People who stutter--their minds are perfectly good, and they're not deaf, and they don't need to be told to breathe. They know how to breathe. What they need...is to be listened to," said Susan Hardy, who saw the film with her son Aidan, a 14-year-old Chicago eighth-grader who also stutters, to the Huffington Post. Aidan, who mentioned that he has been teased for stuttering, told the Huffington Post that he hates it when people tell him to calm down and focus. "There are certain ways to help someone talk better and there are some things that most people think will help, but they don't. I'm hoping this movie will fix that," Aidan said.