Michael Persin and Hamir Sledge are buddies but what brought them together was the brokenness of their speech.

"Because it's not only me in the world who stutters, there are other people," said Sledge.

"Also, you're around other kids just like you that are also stutterers," said Persin. 

Persin and Sledge attend Speaking Orange, Syracuse University's fluency camp for kids who stutter.

"Typically, people don't know how they talk,” said Syracuse University assistant professor Victoria Tumanova. “It happens automatically. It just happens for people and they don't appreciate it that much that we are able to move hundreds of muscles that are involved in producing speech. When they do have disruptions, they can feel what happens and control their speech better, so that is one of the goals for us is to help them understand the process of talking.”

About five percent of all kids go through a period of stuttering that lasts six months or more.  Having camps such as Speaking Orange give kids a chance to talk openly about their emotions and what they face on a daily basis.

"Sometimes some kids make fun of you for stuttering and stuff like that. I've gotten made fun of for my stuttering," said Persin.

The kids learn about being assertive through skits.

"You can say what you want to say. You can speak up for yourself. You also can educate others about stuttering, so they know what it is and what it is not," said Tumanova.

"If somebody talks about you stuttering, all you have to say is 'Everybody is different in their own way,'" said Sledge.

At Speaking Orange, it's the difference that makes each kid unique.