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Spit It Out is a funny and poignant portrait of Jeff Shames' successful efforts to come to terms with his stutter and his family's legacy of denial. Jeff's father is intolerant of and rageful towards his son's imperfections, while his mother never discusses her own childhood stutter. As a teenager, Jeff turns to alcohol and drugs to mask his shame, and eventually marries an alcoholic who interacts with the outside world for him. After his wife gets sober, Jeff discovers the stuttering self-help community and embarks on a healing journey of sobriety, self-acceptance and forgiveness.

Spit It Out is a powerful and poignant revelatory journey into one person's lifelong challenges with stuttering. The film is a significant educating tool because it simultaneously illustrates the highly personal and interpersonal issues associated with stuttering, while delving into stuttering's important scientific and clinical aspects as well. Spit It Out is a perfect film for speech and language pathology students and clinicians as well as for individuals who stutter along with their spouses and families.
Eileen M. Savelkoul, PhD, CCC-SLP, Speech/Language Pathologist & Fluency Specialist, Assistant Professor, Minot State University, North Dakota

SPIT IT OUT is a powerful documentary. I strongly recommend the viewing of this film by stutterers, significant others of stutterers and anyone else interested in the complex challenge of living with stuttering.
Dorvan H Breitenfeldt Ph.D., Professor Emeritus
Eastern Washington University

It seems Hollywood loves to poke fun at people who stutter. But Jeff Shames isn't laughing - he's fighting back. The 47-year-old stutterer is speaking out loud and clear with a film of his own, a documentary called "Spit It Out." Shames' new film is at times lighthearted, but it casts a bright spotlight on what life can be like for adults who stutter.
Cheryl Wills
New York One News
full review

SPIT IT OUT is a personal journey, both intimate and universal, into the ways that a family copes with someone who is different. Its very rawness is its power.
Barry Yeoman, Journalist and person who stutters

I loved every minute of it. SPIT IT OUT is the most real and honest documentary film I have ever seen.
David Friedman, person who stutters

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AWARDS & SCREENINGS:

• PBS, Cable and Satellite Broadcasts
• Santa Fe Film Festival
• London Disabilities Film Festival
• Assimvivemos, Brazil's International Disabilities Film Festival
• Award Winner, SuperFest, America's premiere disabilities film festival
• Award Winner, The Picture This Film Festival, Canada's international disabilities film festival
• The Stony Brook Digital Video Film Festival
• The SwissAm Film Festival
• Woods Hole Film Festival
• Brooklyn International Film Festival

Resource Web Sites

Association of Young People Who Stutter

National Stuttering Association

Mint Leaf Productions