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From: Natalie Chan
Date: 16 Oct 2010
Time: 11:14:26 -0500
Remote Name: 24.213.203.146
Hi Lisa and Carla, Thank you for posting this great article about Canada's national support organization for stuttering! I'd certainly like to hope that greater acceptance of stuttering in our country is the reason for the lack of interest. To what extent have you partnered with the speech therapy community and communication disorders university programs? I think they would be a great asset to get the word out about the organization. Also, what links do your organization have with school-aged children? Children at that age are just beginning to learn about acceptance and I think a support group could be very helpful (to tackle issues of things like bullying). Do you think the advances in technology that have decreased the need for people to communicate face to face is the main reason for the lack of interest? Or could it still be due to the lack of awareness about stuttering in general? As Canada is truly a multicultural nation, have you considered bringing the organization to different culture groups? I often find that larger organizations (that operate at a national level) may unintentionally ignore reaching out to minority groups. Perhaps promotion for the organization could start at a more 'micro' level and through word of mouth, the organization could grow. Many minority groups may feel discouraged from joining such a formal group because they may be self conscious about their ability to speak English well. However, we know that stuttering can happen in any language and I think your organization could be of great benefit to all who stutter.