Former UK star returns to Lexington for events to help people who stutter
A former University of Kentucky basketball player is bringing his stuttering awareness tour to Lexington this weekend.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a member of UK’s national championship-winning men’s basketball team in 2012, is retired from professional basketball and now leads Change & Impact Inc., a foundation that seeks to improve health care and expand resources for people who stutter. He founded the nonprofit organization in 2021 after stuttering for his entire life.
Kidd-Gilchrist and his foundation travel across the country to provide free speech therapy services and host special events. On Saturday, the tour will make a stop in Lexington and host a free program on stuttering for local speech-language pathologists, and a bowling event for children who stutter.
The stuttering program, titled “School-Age Children Who Stutter: Assessing & Treating the Impact on Their World,” will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Worsham Cinema inside UK’s Gatton Student Center. Pathologists will earn continuing education units and hear from stuttering expert Joseph Donaher and UK HealthCare speech-language pathologist Meg Shake, who was Kidd-Gilchrist’s speech-language pathologist when he was at UK.
Kidd-Gilchrist will also give a keynote address with Shake, sharing his experiences with speech therapy at UK and the impact it had on him as a person who stutters.
Later Saturday, Kidd-Gilchrist will host the fourth annual Change & Impact Bowling Blast at LexLive’s bowling alley. The event is for children who stutter, their families and regional speech-language pathologists.
There will be a meet-and-greet with Kidd-Gilchrist, bowling, arcade games and more for attendees. The event is scheduled to last from 5 to 8 p.m.
Kidd-Gilchrist played only one season for Kentucky, but he left a lasting impact. He helped lead his team to a national championship in 2012 and went on to be the No. 2 overall pick in that year’s NBA draft behind teammate Anthony Davis.
Kidd-Gilchrist played eight years in the NBA and made the All-Rookie team in the 2012-13 season. He last played in the league in 2020 and spent nearly all of his NBA career playing for Charlotte.
Kidd-Gilchrist did not have access to speech therapy growing up, and didn’t start getting help for his stutter until he came to UK. He hosted the first fundraiser related to his nonprofit organization in Lexington in 2022.
In 2024, Kidd-Gilchrist was an advocate for a Kentucky bill that expanded insurance coverage for people seeking treatment for stuttering, according to The Associated Press. Republican state Sen. Whitney Westerfield, who sponsored the bill, credited Kidd-Gilchrist for its successful passage.
This story was originally published September 18, 2025 at 1:37 PM.
