1. International Stuttering Awarness Day October 22, 1998

The main objective was to inform the Finnish public about stuttering, the causes of stuttering, how stuttering affects the life of stutterers and about possible therapies for eliminating or relieving of stuttering. Therefore the activities were concentrated on printed and electric media. About two weeks before the ISAD the first announcement was sent to three biggest national newspapers and to the national news service covering other newspapers in Finland, as well as to the three national TV-networks. In this first announcement the idea of ISAD was described in examples of the everyday life of stutterers (human interest stories). Further it was mentioned that worldwide there are over 30 million stuttering people, in Finland 50.000, and the purpose of the ISAD was to increase the public awarness of and support to stuttering people. At the end of this announcement we proposed to send background information about stuttering. to media later, before ISAD. That information was sent one week before ISAD, and it consisted of following four papers, one page each:

• What is stuttering?
• Does your child stutter?
• Stuttering pupil
• How stuttering is healed or relieved?

Also in other, regional or local newspapers, as well as in regional radios, the ISAD was mentioned and referred to. In our estimates, through TV, radio and newspapers over half million people or about 10-15 per cent of the finnish population (excluding babies and pre-school children) were informed about ISAD. As a first try in this field, we consider it as a not very bad result.

In this connection we would like to thank IFA and ISA and their ISAD team for their very valuable information spreading activities, which included also the Internet-conference.

2. Plans for 1999

In our opinion, the ISAD (translated into Finnish language: International Stuttering Day) is a most valuable tool for spreading information and understanding about stuttering. In that way it also increases the possibilities to gain more public and private support for the activities of national stuttering associations and for stuttering therapy, especially for children. This is especially true in case of our Finnish association. We have a little over 300 members, and publish 2-3 times/year our own periodical, Painokas, which is intended mostly for our members. Although the periodical is mailed also to other organisations, it is not a very powerful tool for gaining more awarness and support.

Our association has in this year the 30 years anniversary. We plan to combine it with the ISAD to have more publicity than last year. The main festival will be arranged two days after the ISAD, on Sunday October 24 in the Helsinki area. The main speech for the anniversary will be presented by Mr. Pertti Paasio, then already retired MEP. Other honorary guest will include the founder members, representatives of the organisations for financial support and of the Ministry for Social and Health affairs, etc. Also representatives of our nordic sister associations will be invited. We will also try also extend the ISAD activities to our local associations and advise them to inform media and local authorities, schools, etc. We trust that in that way we could extend the information coverage of ISAD in Finland widely over the 10-15 % achieved last year.

AMBI - The Israeli Stuttering Association is a young association that was formally registered on April 1999. The first official AMBI event was the ISAD conference which took place on October 22, 1999. At that event AMBI was declared. In addition, we had several lectures given by some of the top Israeli SLP's. The ISAD conference was the first and at the same time the biggest AMBI event up to date (130 participants).

AMBI's purposes as stated on the registration form are:

• To create a world that understands stuttering and the people who stutter.
• To increase public awareness on the subject of stuttering.
• To provide a supportive environment for people who stutter and their families.
• To improve treatment services for PWS in Israel.
• To encourage the best SLP students to choose stuttering as their specialization.
• To encourage research of the stuttering phenomenon.

Several things have happened in AMBI since the last ISAD day.

On May 1, 1999, AMBI become a member of ISA - International Stuttering Association. Now AMBI is part of the national Israeli support system and also a member of the international family of stuttering associations.

We have had another two additional AMBI meetings -- one in January and the other in May 1999. The January meeting was a small one (about 30 participants). It was a trial to start with monthly meetings. Although that meeting was very interesting we decided to abandon the idea of small monthly meetings and to go on focusing on bigger events every six months.

The May meeting was much bigger (about 70 participants). It was organized in a talk show fashion in which we interviewed several families of stuttering people. One of the top Israeli comedians participated in that meeting. The success of the May meeting was outstanding. It was a lot of fun for the participants and for the organizers too. The main lesson that we learned at that meeting was that AMBI meetings are in fact social meetings of people who are connected to stuttering as PWS or as professionals. Therefore the formal program in such meetings must be of social character.

In November 1999, we started with publishing a newsletter called "BEKOL RAM" which means "With a load voice." "BEKOL RAM" is the first newsletter in Hebrew that deals with stuttering. It provides the readers with general information about stuttering and also with articles written by PWS telling about their personal problems.Since November we have already published four issues.

These days we are working on the AMBI web site (in Hebrew). This web site includes general information about AMBI and selected articles from "BEKOL RAM". The URL is http://www.angelfire.com/il/bravid/Ambi.html

The Tel Aviv self help group (that was established two years ago) continues to grow. AMBI meetings and the publicity in the media which accompanies these meetings have brought a lot of new members to the group. Today the Tel Aviv self help group is a well established home for PWS -- a home in which a PWS may stutter without fear or shame and a place in which PWS may speak in front of group (an exciting experience for most PWS) and a place to start love affairs too.

In the last months we made two TV programs which were broadcast on local TV stations. In these programs stuttering was explained and the self help group members talked about their problems as PWS. These programs have had an impact on public awareness towards stuttering and it also opened a space for creation of more self help groups for PWS in other cities.

Now we are preparing our next ISAD meeting that will happen in October 21, 1999. This meeting will deal with families of stuttering children and seems that it will be held in a fashion similar to that of May meeting, but will be much bigger.

Last years attempt at promoting International Stuttering Awareness Day was our first go at making known to many South Africans this important day.

The Johannesburg Speakeasy Group always has fun and the evening that we all sat together stuffing envelopes with the wonderful posters sent from America was no exception. The group managed to organise themselves into a production line of label stickers, envelope stuffers, and stamper. These posters we sent out to many of our hospitals, local schools and speech thereapy departments throughout the country.

The word definitely did get around, and with the help of some media releases and the resulting publicity, several enquiries to our office were made and our mailing list for information and newsletters grew tremendously.

This year we are trying to do better. We have already organised our 'walk and talk'; we are trying to get onto one of our local TV stations; the media releases will be specifically targetted, hopefully resulting in even better publicity; our quaterly newsletter will be timed to be distributed just before the big day; and who knows what else may happen. So "Let's keep talking".

The Swedish Stuttering Association is a small association, only eleven years young, and still has a lot to learn. One of the things we're working on right now is how to raise awareness on both small and large scale as the situation today is bad! Not only for people who stutter, but for all children and disabled people. Politicians have other problems, schools have no money and teachers have no time. So what can we do to get people's attention about the problems we have, how to fulfill the few but important needs we have and how to get rid of the questionmark on people's forehead when we start to talk?

When Sveriges Stamningsföreningars Riksförbund, SSR, organized the World Congress for people who stutter in Sweden, Linköping, in 1994 we reached a lot of people through TV and newspapers, but reactions from the people were very low. We expected the phone not to stop ringing and loads of new members, but, apart from a very successful congress, people just noticed us and "walked by". We have asked ourselves many times what could be the reason and we came up with many answers, but none was really satisfying. We announced it long before, we engaged the media, even the Queen was our patronage! Was it the wrong time? Did we use the wrong words? We still don't know.

Today we are slowly starting to become a name. We had an ombudsman for several years who has been involved in different projects and official reports to give stuttering "a face". We have recently produced new information material to schools with help from the Institute for Disability Issues, SIH, local groups more often show their activities in newspapers and new books about stuttering, not only for children, but also for speech therapy students have just come out. But because of the tough financial situation for disability association, we couldn't really start a national campaign to raise awareness about stuttering on a larger scale.

Therefore we were very happy to hear about the International Stuttering Awareness Day during the ISA meeting at the World Congress for people who stutter in Johannesburg in 1998 and, although we didn't have the people nor the resources on so short notice, we started a movement. I contacted every daily and weekly newspaper, local and national, and every radio and TV station. I also started a campaign to engage the local groups to have an open day, have activities and notify their press, be at important places such as a library or a health center with information material and put folders everywhere. We were not sure what to expect, but hardly this storm of interest!

It started when morning television interviewed a well known politician, who openly told the viewers he stuttered as a child. Then a famous radio reporter who stutters, a young girl who stutters and a speech therapist talked about stuttering. This program was broadcasted several times during the morning and the news reader mentioned the ISAD after every news item.

The secretary of our national office, Conny, planned to serve coffee for the open day, but didn't have the time, as the phone was ringing constantly! So the Stockholm group, who also announced the open day in a free metro paper, read by many people, took over the visitors. Both Conny and me spent the day giving interviews (some live, some taped), handed out telephone numbers an addresses from local groups and explained why this day is so important. I myself was interviewed live for a local TV station and a radio station and gave many interviews.

Most of the local groups were active in one way or another, had meetings and open days and reached lots of people. And we asked all members to stop at noon and tell the person next to you what day it is and to tell them about stuttering as was suggested on the Internet.

While we were riding the storm, TV programs finally opened their doors to have programs about stuttering, which we have been trying to accomplish for so long without any result, so young members from the Stockholm self help group were seen on a youth program. A national health program has broadcasted a program about stuttering with a child who stutters, me as an adult stutterer and a speech therapist (with two times three reruns!!!) and we had three telephone lines open, a teenager showed a day of her life with her stuttering and a young boy talked about his dream despite his stutter, all on National TV!

But not only the media and people passing by showed their interest: a brand new, but already very famous politician (because of her age: she's 80 years old!) called us and asked to meet us. We held our breath and wondered why she was interested in our work. It showed that she herself is a person who stutters and that she "wants to make up for the years lost in silence", she said. She has now written a motion for the political budget, she became the chair of the Stockholm self help group and promised us not to hold back her stutter in the parliament anymore and to talk about (her) stuttering!

Another thing that is slowly spreading is our parent network. Kim Lindbom Carlsson, our parent representative, has organized several children camps, where children who stutter can meet and play, while parents get information about stuttering and can ask questions to a speech therapist and other adult stutterers. This has now resulted in monthly meetings where more and more parents and children meet. Other parents throughout the country are now getting active and talk to schools about stuttering, looking after their children's rights and learning about laws and school plans.

More and more we are learning how to reach people. For example when there was a seminar for people with hidden disabilities, I directly asked why stuttering was not on the agenda and I now have time to talk in front of over 400 people working in the field. I always fax to local newspapers as soon as we had our local Annual meeting, when we're planning our activities and when I'm going away for an assignment. Just to show we're there, we're active, doing important but also fun things and to tell something about stuttering every time. A small town in Lapland asked us to send someone to talk about stuttering and when interest was very low the first day, I wanted to leave, as doing workshops with a severe stutter is not that kind of fun, but when we really reached teachers and other people who stuttered the next day, it felt great. One of the visitors who doesn't stutter told me she avoided words which are hard for her to say, and thanks to this workshop, she won't avoid these words anymore!

Now politicians couldn't help but notice us and the SSR got funding for an information project producing leaflets and other information material, making inquiries, influence politicians and the ISAD. This year's ISAD the local groups will do the work on local level with help from last year's ISAD, the European seminar in Vienna about raising awareness (organized by the European League of Stuttering Associations, ELSA) and the ISA. The SSR will hold a member meeting the weekend after where all, young and old, parents and therapists will help to produce new leaflets and discuss this year's activities.

Talking about our lives and problems is not only important for us who stutter and for those who work with and meet people who stutter, it's also about not giving up, love and friendship, unknown disabilities and the problems no one can see but that live and grow inside of you and most of all about acceptance. Therefore I hope I can convince you all to open up, talk about stuttering, asked or not, and to advertise your local group or national association, because there are too many people out there, not knowing we exist, not knowing who to turn to and not knowing that it takes so little to help us so much.

Raise stuttering awareness for those who cannot do it by themselves. Join hands with other disability groups and raise your voices together. Use the International Stuttering Awareness Day as a tool to reach the people you cannot reach otherwise. Demonstrate by joining together in a walk. Still, big campaigns are important, but to tell other people you yourself stutter and how this has influenced your life gets straight to the heart. It opens doors for them to ask you questions they didn't dare to ask, it gives them addresses to other places and other people who can help and it gives you and other people another person who understands stuttering a little better.

So wear that button, T-shirt or tag. Use that cup or banner, leave leaflets everywhere. Leave material at your local library and hang up posters. If you don't have any material yourself, I'm sure your national Association has. Encourage your child who stutters to give a talk in class and/or try to reach the teachers. We've seen results in our country, where there's still so much to be done, despite it's good reputation with health care.

The theme "Many languages, one voice", the ISA newsletter One Voice and the ELSA newsletter Voice of ELSA all use the word Voice. This is not because we like our voice, but it is because we have been in silence for far too long and it's time to raise our voices to tell the people there's nothing wrong with our voices, our nerves or our minds. How can politicians, teachers or other people help us, when we don't tell them how we feel and what we need?

The International Stuttering Awareness Day has absolutely been a great help forward and now we're rolling, we need to do everything not to stop this movement. For the first time all stuttering associations of the world joined together to raise stuttering awareness. Please raise your voices. If not for ourselves, then for our children. Let's teach them that stuttering is not a brick wall, not a contest. It's just a way of living. And remember:

Only shameful issues are reduced to silence. Don't let stuttering be one of them.

The Canadian Association for People Who Stutter (CAPS) and The National Stuttering Association (NSA), formally the National Stuttering Project, celebrated International Stuttering Awareness Day October 24, 1998 in Toronto, Canada. Over 100 attended this special one-day workshop for children, teens, adults who stutter, parents and speech-language pathologists. Coordinators of this workshop included; Mary Wood, CAPS; Jaan Pill, CAPS, Annie Bradberry, NSA; and Bonnie Weiss, NSA. This exciting day was highlighted by presentations from Luc De Nil, Ph.D., Tony Churchill, MCST, and Gary Rentschler, Ph.D.

For years children have been the driving force behind our work. For over nine years our Youth Day Workshops, led by leading experts in stuttering, have provided the parent a place to share their fears, hopes and learn what resources are available for them. During these heartwarming workshops, their children discover they are not alone as they work on stuttering issues from their daily lives, while local professionals--including speech clinicians and preschool teachers discuss early diagnosis and effective intervention strategies for children who stutter.

This is the second youth day that CAPS and NSA have co-sponsored and certainly not the last. NSA and CAPS have been sharing ideas, strategies and concepts from the beginning of our relationship, knowing that together even more people will be reached by our joint efforts. In fact plans are already being made for another shared youth day event for ISAD 2000.

The outcome of working together is evident as both organizations continue to grow and more children and adults benefit. Working together has positive effects on all of us: those of us who live with, work with and love children who stutter, and to the children and young adults who face stuttering every day. For many this can be the first time they are exposed to such a large group of people who stutter. It is often a "life changing" process and greatly gives them the feelings that "If you stutter, you're not alone".

After these workshops, we believe that parents, professionals and educators will understand that organizations like ours can aid in the whole therapy process and understand the positive effects the self-help movement can have on speech management. Consequently, the roles of the National Stuttering Association and the Canadian Association For People Who Stutter, continue to expand as well as the relationship with the professional community who assists in making these programs effective. This is very important and is a WIN-WIN situation for everyone involved in the process of helping children and adults who stutter to communicate to the best of their abilities.

Even though we are two separate organizations, when we come together and work side by side, it feels as though we are one.

About 100 people attended a one-day event hosted by the Canadian Association for People Who Stutter (CAPS) and the National Stuttering Association (NSA) in St. Catharines, Ontario on October 24, 1998 in celebration of the International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD).

St. Catharines is a city in southwestern Ontario between Toronto and Buffalo. The October 1998 event brought together people who stutter of a wide range of ages, their families, and speech professionals. Bonnie Weiss of the NSA and Mary Wood of CAPS served as co-chairs of the event, with NSA executive director Annie Bradberry assisting with her superb organizing skills.

The workshop received much valued assistance, by way of payment of the cost of renting facilities, from the St. Catharines chapter of the Ontario District Association of Chapters of SPEBSQSA (Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America). Similarly, the Toronto chapter of the same organization has generously and enthusiastically assisted in staging of similar events in Toronto.

The 1998 ISAD meeting in St. Catharines was publicized in a breakfast interview on CITY-TV, a major Toronto-area TV station, with university student Carolina Ayala. Carolina was subsequently also featured in a 20-minute news item on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) TV channel in Montreal on the occasion of ABC / CAPS 99, the national conference which was held in Montreal in August 1999.

The St. Catherine meeting featured well-organized presentations, with extensive audience interaction, by Tony Churchill of Mississauga, Ontario; Gary Rentschler of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Luc De Nil of the University of Toronto.

Tony Churchill, MCST, is a speech-language pathologist in the school system in the Region of Peel. He was also a keynote speaker at ABC / CAPS 99, in Montreal in 1999. CAPS and the association des bègues du Canada (ABC) co-hosted the latter conference, which received extensive media coverage including a report on the CBC national radio news broadcast on August 19, 1999, and a report in a national Canadian newspaper, the Globe and Mail, on August 20, 1999.

Second facilitator at the October 1998 event in St. Catharines was Gary Rentschler, PhD, director of a speech, language and hearing clinic at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. Tony Churchill and Gary Rentschler addressed issues that relate to the interaction between emotional factors, self-talk, and fragile speech muscle timing. Third facilitator was Luc De Nil, PhD, associate professor at the University of Toronto and president of the International Fluency Association, who presented recent data related to the neurology of stuttering.

The 1998 event also featured a workshop for children, and another one for teens, and sessions where every member of the audience had the opportunity to share information, thoughts, and feelings.