A Waterbury-Based Speech Pathologist Launched the Viral 'I'm Worth Listening To' Campaign

By RACHEL HELLMAN
Published June 19, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. | Updated June 19, 2024 at 10:58 a.m.




Danra Kazenski - JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

"Hi, my name is Ronan," the boy wearing a tie-dye sweatshirt in an online video says slowly. "I'm a person who stutters, and I'm worth listening to."

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The videos — from countries as distant as Argentina and Ireland — can all be traced back to Vermont, or more specifically, to the Waterbury home of Danra Kazenski. She's a clinical associate professor at the University of Vermont and a speech-language pathologist who specializes in stuttering.

Motivated to do something to help her clients, many of whom have been bullied and faced prejudice, Kazenski launched a social media campaign in March, shortly after former president Donald Trump openly mocked President Joe Biden for his stutter. She encouraged people with the speech disorder to record short videos of themselves saying a variation of "I'm worth listening to," and for allies to record themselves saying "If you stutter, I'm listening."

The challenge landed at the right moment, leading to more than 300 posts that have drawn hundreds of thousands of views from around the world. One video that stuttering advocate and makeup artist Caitlyn Cohen posted of herself saying "I stutter, and I'm worth listening to" (with an added "OK, bye!" at the end) has been viewed 52,000 times.

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