How A Family Learned To Embrace Stuttering And A Life Changing Meet-Up With MLB Player George Springer

Transcript

Maya Chupkov:

So I stuttered myself and I live in San Francisco and I've stuttered my whole life. Just last year I started opening up about my stutter. I kept it hidden for a really long time When I was growing up it was like very like it was really hard for me to kind of hide my stutter. So school was really hard in like the social aspect of things, So really proud.

Stutter it's all about sharing people who stutter stories so that other people who stutter can feel less alone. And we and Matteo, you will be our youngest guest ever So that's a big deal. And yeah, it's just all about sharing stuttering stories and really shifting the narrative around stuttering. I still hear stuttering jokes in TV shows and movies and it's just wild that that's still happening, And so this is really meant to just show everyone that it's not okay to make fun of the stuttering. Stuttering is just simply a way of speaking. So, yeah, that's a little bit about the show. Cool, okay. So I'm gonna just start with asking a few questions to Matteo and I don't know why, but that name is so hard for me to say I like stutter on it, like every time. So anyway, that's fine, Okay, so I found out about both of you because I was watching.

I watched MLB's video of George Springer and you and I was just blown away because it's so rare to see someone like George Springer speak so positively about stuttering. Usually, when I see famous people talk about stuttering, they always talk about it like oh, I overcame stuttering, Like I was able to overcome it. But George Springer and your story really was unique that you talked about stuttering as a positive and something that is just part of you, And so I'm wondering if you can just talk about how that experience was for you meeting George Springer and also doing this video. I was.

Mateo Sanchez

I was a big deal for me And it was a super cool And yeah,

Maya:

How has that relationship been like ever since you did that video with him?

Mateo:

Like talking with a close friend, because cause it's, uh, it's time, a A-wars, it's two-wars, it's two-wars, it's too Hit, hit, hit, hit.

Maya:

That's awesome, and I understand that you play baseball too, which is really awesome. My fiance plays baseball in a league and he used to play in high school, and so I have become more aware of the sport through him, and so I'm wondering if you can talk about what is about baseball, that you love about it and who's your favorite team.

Mateo:

It's a Super Fun That, that, that, that It's the people, that, that, that, that I, that, i, that I Talked to That. My Favorite team is the, the, the, the, the people, the people, the people, that, the people, the, the people, the, the, the, the occult, the, the people, the ocult. So it's a good thing.

Maya:

Nice, and is it because George Springer is on that team?

Mateo:

Yes.

Maya:

I love that. They're also my favorite team too because of that, although I do like the Giants too, because they're here in San Francisco. So I go to their games sometimes And my goal is to make it to the game where I can see him in person. So hopefully that will happen at some point, because I'd love to meet him as well. Okay, so my last question for you is what do you wish more people knew about? stuttering?

Mateo:

It's a good thing, it's something that It's that, that, that, that, that, that. As That I can't control.

Maya:

Thank you so much.

As a parent of a son who stutters, can you talk about what your journey has been like. You know, learning about stuttering was stuttering Like. Have you interacted with stuttering before your son? or you know how is your, i guess stuttering journey from a parent's perspective evolved over time.

Jesse Sanchez:

Well, i think maybe the first thing is definitely your journey and we're still on it. You know, we're still on it with our son and he's on it and we're on it together. We were never exposed to stuttering or disluency. There's all these terminology, all these terms and things. I know now that I never knew or grew up thinking about or had experienced. I think there was a lot of unknown from the very beginning, when we started going to speech therapy around three o'clock, three o'clock, three H3, and we were learning with him. You know, we go to different therapists and they put different tech, ask him to try different techniques and us not knowing we'd follow that and and we didn't understand maybe some of the stressors that it was placing on him. He's in a, you know, one therapist would say to do something, another therapist would say to do the opposite. So we were always flip-flopping, trying to figure out what works best. You know, and we didn't know we were putting more pressure and stress on him. You know, i think we immediately went from we want to fix this mentality to there's no fixing, which we just embrace it. It's like, you know, he has curly brown hair, he has brown eyes and he stutters and he wears size shoe. Whatever size shoe he wears, and he's right-handed and it's all part of his identity. You know, i think that's how. I mean, that is how we view it, i think initially. You know, when they tell you, have this fluency, we had to learn that term fluency. We had to learn that term, what that means, and they'd give us techniques and we thought it was just like a quick fix, or there was a magic pill, or there was something that that we could do. You know, as parents we wanted to help him communicate, you know, and we thought there was something we could do that would turn it around. Or again, the word fix, but that's just the wrong word, it was the wrong approach to think that. You know, i think for us it was about acceptance and patience and understanding and acknowledgement that this isn't something you fix, it's something you embrace. It's his eye color, it's the color of his hair. You know this is part of him. It's not all of him. I mean, his entire identity isn't based on his curly hair or his entire identity isn't based on his ability to love baseball and his entire identity isn't like his fluency and his stutter, but it's part of it and we don't shy away from that and it's not stigmatized and it's not a negative, you know, and I think, as parents, we just didn't know, you know. So we were learning along with him and we're still learning along with him.

You know, it took us a while to find the right speech pathologist. You know, it's been our experience people who focus specifically on stutter. Stuttering is, it's pretty difficult to find, you know, and each case is so unique and different, and that's another thing we learned. I mean, we've learned so much along the way and it's helped us help him and he's also helped us, you know, i mean he's. We've gone through this together. It's our journey together and, and really, one of the reasons why I agree to do the thing with George Springer, who I work in baseball and I've, you know George a little bit and uh, is because my son is out there after meeting George Springer in 2017 at a baseball field in a baseball game, and George is, you know, professional baseball player his stutter's. He really inspired my son, you know, and I saw something very special between two people going through a same experience and it was just so powerful and then it was like it was almost so personal and intimate that me as a father. I almost wanted to step out and let these two guys talk, let these two guys share their experience. And Mateo was seven, george was 27 at the time, you know, so it's almost. I still wanted to walk away, like this is very personal between these two guys, you know.

But not long after that, mateo started doing, you know, stuttering awareness presentations to his class And each year he did it to each class. And you know, this year he did in 2022 or 2023, he did it for the entire school, for all the teachers, you know, and the mission was to help him and help us embrace stuttering and also raise awareness, because kids are cruel, you know. So it was an educational thing, it was an inspirational thing for him. It impacted, i mean, all the kids in the school have, basically, you could say, they have a stuttering awareness certificate because they had a speech, you know, they had a presentation, you know, and even the teachers. This year they had his own. I know it's much better now. Before it was a cardboard, you know, a poster board, and then it evolved into like a PowerPoint and now it's like a nice little deal, you know, a pretty refined little presentation, and we're extremely proud of him And, like I said, one of the reasons I agreed to do the you know speech therapy thing the thing with Matteo and George Springer was because he is putting himself out there to raise stuttering awareness And his vehicle is at school and he's trying to spread awareness And we talked about it And to get on television and share his story to raise stuttering awareness on a larger platform.

It just made sense to do, you know, and the results have been very positive, been well received by other families in our position, by people who stutter, by parents who have children with different disabilities or people who've grown up with different disabilities.

It really spoke to them because it was really honest. We're sincere, like we don't claim to have all the answers. We're learning as we're going, we're aware and we're doing our best And I'm trying and Matteo's mom is trying and his siblings and he's trying, and we don't claim to be experts but we are willing to learn and we're willing to share what we know And he has. I mean, objectively speaking, it's pretty damn courageous what he does. You know, i'm extremely proud of him. He's my son and you see your boy doing his thing But, objectively speaking, you see a kid who's, since he was seven years old and he's giving presentations on stuttering awareness while he stutters and he's standing in front of his peers and then, like a one grade, he was a fifth grader and he gave it to eighth graders the presentation to an eighth grade class.

Maya:

Wow.

Jesse:

You know. So it's like damn, that's impressive. You know, objectively speaking, i'm like holy crap, who is that kid, you know? So that's why we decided to do the video with MLB Network and George Springer. Like I said, i've worked in baseball for over 20 years And we just thought it was important to share it and to create a vehicle to have conversations about stuttering awareness, to have an impact on other hopefully other families and children and adults And really people who don't know, who aren't familiar because once upon a time we didn't know anything about stuttering or stuttering awareness. We were there, we are just extremely we take it seriously. It's something that's a family passion. But again, it's not his entire identity, but it is not stigmatized. It's a positive thing. You hear him say it's a good thing. You hear him say because he's unique, he embraces and loves himself the way we love him, and that's what we want to share.

Maya:

And that just speaks to how you've approached stuttering. Because so many parents out there, it's just natural to want what's best for your kid And sometimes the first thing that pops up when you see your child struggling to get words out is like oh, we need to fix this, We need to protect him.

Jesse:

But really it's just there's this other path, that and we're seeing the results. He's so confident, i can just tell. And that just goes so much to how you guys have embraced his stutter, because that wasn't really my experience And I have the best parents in the world but they just didn't know And they just never found a speech therapist that had a different way of more towards acceptance, because I did speech therapy like 20 years ago, and things were just a lot different. When I was in speech therapy I always felt like I was hiding my personality, like hiding my stutter was like hiding my personality And I always said I'd rather stutter than not stutter, like I'd rather show my personality than try to hide my stutter. So I just think this is great awareness for all the parents out there that also are on a similar journey.

Maya:

Do you have any dreams or aspirations or anything that you want to do that you haven't done yet around stuttering awareness? Like what?

Jesse:

For us. We're kind of following Mattael's lead. He's going to dictate what we do, but he has shown interest in attending some camps. I think he wants to continue to do his stuttering awareness presentation. I think one of the things as parents is when we embrace him and his uniqueness and his own gifts and his own path and we just committed to supporting that. It made everything much easier. So the next steps for Mattael are what he wants to do.

I feel good about where he is confidence-wise. He wasn't always there. I feel good about where he is in terms of courage because he wasn't always there. So I can relate and empathize with and understand different families going through different things. We've all cried together as family. It's hard for him in the beginning. The tears are not being able to communicate and the things people say, the smart-ass things kids say, or sometimes people say things without even knowing they're being offensive because of lack of awareness. So I think he's mentioned camps. I think this is going to be part of his life until it's not the stuttering awareness, but I know it's something that's important to him, so we'll see where it goes. I mean we're going to support him whatever he wants to do. Obviously it was important for him to be on this podcast, it was important for him to do the video And when other opportunities come up he's going to do that And that's what he wants to do.

And I'm proud as a parent that he's choosing to follow his heart and be courageous and have confidence. And that's where we come in as parents. That's what we want to do. We're not trying to fix anything. I mean I'm not a perfect person. My life isn't. I mean, i don't know anybody who's perfect. We all have different, unique abilities and traits and he has his and we're just supporting him. So I don't know.

For me, the sky's the limit, right. I see a kid who was seven years old standing in front of a class giving a presentation on stuttering awareness. I see a fifth grader giving a presentation on stuttering awareness to eighth graders. I mean I don't, i'm not going to put a limit on what this kid can do. You know he, he comes on your podcast, he'll go on on national television and and talk about stuttering awareness on camera. As a 13 year old kid I mean they're adults too It's hard to get on camera, it's hard to speak on a podcast and at any age that can be really nerve wrecking and he's doing it So the sky's the limit. I know my wife and I and our two children really support him And you know we're just extremely proud and we're extremely grateful to be on your podcast and thank you for for having us and letting me tell, share his story, and the hope is it can impact some other families like ours and other kids like him, because you know we're a community and we care.