Stuttering doesn’t stop Stewart
As it is for many others like him, Stewart has stuttered for as long as he can remember. His speech encounters blocks; that is, instances when he knows what he wants to say and his mouth is positioned to say it, but the word simply won’t come out. There was a belief when he was younger that he would outgrow it like his older brother, Anthony, but such a day never came. A disorder thought to be caused in part bygenetics isn’t found in anyoneelse in his family.
Stewart stuttered for much of his childhood but largely wasn’t cognizant of it or what it represented. Over time, particularlyonce he reached middle school, it began to bother him. Due to his jovial nature and skill as a basketball player, he was seldom teased orbullied.
The lack of such external forces, however, did little to ease his internal turmoil. When the family would go out todinner, Stewart would often have his mother order for him. If he were alone, he would sometimes order a dish hedidn’t want simply because it was easier to say. Certain letters or combinations of letters are more difficult for Stewart to verbalize, one of which is the “S-T” pairing, meaning he used to introduce himself by a name other than his own. It’s something he said he no longer does, though he will sometimes just say “Parker” when meeting others.
“For me, to watch my son go through that, that was gutwrenching,” Cheryl Stewart said. “In those moments, I felt powerless. I knew that would be over with quickly. When it was over, I would feel like in thebig scheme of Parker’s life, is that moment that significant?No. But to him as a child, itwas.”
Beyond those functional struggles was something potentially more damaging — a feelingof isolation.
Only 1 percent of the population worldwide stutters, according to the Stuttering Foundation of America, meaning it’s likely someone such as Stewart knows nobodyelse with a similar disfluency, nobody else who can relate to how difficult it is to function daily in ways so manytake for granted.
It’s part of the reason that he, after attending since the first grade, stopped speech therapy before entering high school.
“It’s easy for someone to sit there and tell you these things can help you,” Stewart said. “They don’t really know what it’slike.”
Even in his worst moments, Stewart had support, from those he loved and those hecame to know.
At one point as a child, his mother made him a book she titled “All About Parker.” Inside were stories and pictures of accomplished individuals in various fields, including Bo Jackson and James Earl Jones, who also had stutters. To a developing young mind, thebook’s theme resonated.
“All these people had the same thing, and they still did all these great things,” Stewart said. “You can still do whatever you want. Never let thathold you back.”
• Inother moments, progress was found not in comfort and inspiration, but in confrontinghis fears.
Among the requirements in Wisener’s class were oral presentations, the mere thought of which terrified Stewart.After the first of those assignments was given, this one only 30 seconds, Stewart approached Wisener after class, so overcome with nerves he was initially unable to tell her he didn’t want to do the project. Wisener was put in a difficult position, unwilling to let her student off the proverbial hook but uncomfortable with putting him in what could be a traumatic situation.
Shereached a compromise, allowing Stewart to give that firstpresentation to a crowd of two, herself and his junioryear English teacher, before gradually moving to larger audiences as the school year progressed.
“I think he became more comfortable with the idea he was going to have to speak in here,” Wisener said. “I talked to him about his future. I would say, ‘I want you to be able to answer the questions when they pull you aside for interviews after your ballgames. I don’t want you to dread that. I want you to be ableto be you.’”
For all the help he received from others, many of Stewart’s adjustments came from within. A gifted student who had a 3.8 grade point average in his first semester at Pitt, Stewart has long been armed with a broad vocabulary, meaning if he were unable to say one word, he could turn to another. Around strangers, when he was at his tensest, he would give short answers and speakslowly.
“He doesn’t open up to a lot of people,” Ward said. “To me, that’s his biggest struggle. I think he’s getting over that a littlebit, though.”
• Through those fears and risks, he persisted, due in some part to the sanctuary he foundin the sport he loves.
With a father — Anthony, a Hill District native — who is a college basketball coach, the Stewarts moved frequently during Parker’s childhood, forcing him to leave friends almost as quickly as he made them. In his first days at a school, he would seek out classmates playing basketball, almost instantly earning their respect for his skill and sowing the seeds of friendship.
Thecourt also became a refuge from stuttering, a place where he was so focused on the game that he wouldn’t be preoccupied with his speech and the words would flow effortlessly.
Nearly650 miles away from his support system in western Tennessee, Stewart has quickly found strength in others in Pittsburgh. Stewart and Panthers coach Kevin Stallings bonded from their first phone conversation during the recruiting process. Beyondhis teammates, he has grown close with those such as assistant coach Kevin Sutton, with whom he goes to church every Sunday in Fox Chapel.
Stewart has emerged as one of the best players on a freshman-laden Pitt team, transforming the soft-spoken 19-year-oldinto a public face of an ACC program virtually overnight. It’s a role into which he has gradually grown,routinely appearing in news conferences and always comportinghimself well, even in the middle of a season that has presented its share of adversesituations.
“He’s a fighter,” Cheryl Stewart said. “He’s not afraid to tackle things that are difficult that others might say are notworth it.”
In the process of finding strength within himself, he hopes his story can provide thesame for others.
A child once unable to utter his own name is now one of the ACC’s better outside shooters, hitting 44.4 percent of his 3-point attempts in conference play, the second-best mark of any player in the league. His prowess from beyond the arc has prompted Hall-of-Fame coaches to rip off their suit jackets in frustration, to say nothing of his regularly speaking in televised interviews in a room full of dozensof strangers.
Perhaps one day, he could even appear in a book like the one he was given by his mother, and be a source of hope for someone who just mightneed it.
“As he has grown and matured, I think he sees now with his opportunity and his platform that he can literally and figuratively speak to someone and maybe he can impact someone else’s life,” Sutton said. “They see him as a student-athlete, but they can also see themselves in him.”