Jan, Roz and Claire attended the 8th World Congress for People who Stutter in Croatia. About the Congress The programme, with the theme Inclusion: Creating our place in society, sought to empower people who stammer through fostering a positive sense of identity and enhancing knowledge of research and clinical issues. It included people who stammer from self-help movements all over the world, speech and language therapists and researchers - all sharing their perspectives in an atmosphere of mutual respect and support. Daily keynotes were mostly provided by exceptionally inspiring people who stammer. These included Irina Papancheva, deputy Mayor of Sofia in Bulgaria, Sandra Merlo PhD, speech and language pathologist and researcher from Brazil, Anita Blom, Deputy Chair of the European League of Stuttering Associations (ELSA), and Rachel Everard, former BSA Chair and member of the specialist speech therapy team at the City Lit in London. Internationally renowned researchers included Mark Onslow and Sue Block from Australia and Joseph Kalinowski, co-inventor of the SpeechEasy device from East Carolina, USA. There were presentations from around the globe on national self-help movements, including Japan and several African countries such as Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Kenya. There were a series of sessions by researchers and therapists from the Balkans, including two addressing the impact of the 1990s war on children who stammered. It was a truly international conference, firmly located in the context of beautiful Croatia. The next ISA Congress in expected to take place in China in 2010.

Having caught the international conference bug in Dublin last year, BSA Scotland Committee members Claire Pirnie and Roz Urquhart resolved to attend this year's ISA event in Croatia. Jan Anderson, BSA Scotland staff member, was offered a scholarship place at the last moment so three Scottish delegates attended in total.

Over to the three delegates to provide a slice of their Congress experience:

What stood out in the programme?

Claire: I liked the variety of topics and that the majority of presenters were people who stammer. As someone with a history of 'covert' stammering, I was pleased the hidden aspects of stammering were well represented. I empathised with ISA Chair, Mark Irwin's, keynote speech when he asserted that 'overt' and 'covert' stammering are very different and need to be classified as such. I liked his analogy of two school pupils - if asked the sum of, for example, three times four, the pupil who stammers 'overtly' would stammer 'twelve' and be seen as the person who stammers 'severely'. The pupil who stammers 'covertly' would answer 'eleven'. Which pupil is worse affected by stammering?

Roz: Anita Blom's keynote speech about the importance of self-help was one of the most inspirational. She told her story of changing from being a normal talkative child, into a teenager who practically gave up speaking and endured terrible bullying, into an adult who has become a leading member of the self-help movement and Vice Chair of ELSA. Her story demonstrated that meeting other people who stammer can completely change people's lives.

Most striking observations about the experience overall?

Roz: Stammering can, at times, be a very lonely and isolating experience. At the congress I realised that people from every country in the world stammer and in every language. When you once believed that no one else stammers and that you are on your own, this is a completely liberating experience.

Jan: Stammering can be approached from many perspectives - at the conference there were those who embrace it, those who seek to control it, those who use devices and those for whom stammering is but a minor inconvenience. I found myself listening to speakers expressing their opinions passionately, knowing some proportion of the audience would concur while others would hold entirely different views. I like the richness of this mix.

Roz: I, too, was interested in the very different ways that people approach stammering and was struck by the strength of people's convictions. It has strengthened my opinion that stammering is something that can be accepted and worked with as opposed to fought against. I also became aware that a lot of the work being done by BSA Scotland (drama project, open days and so forth) is happening across the international associations - and that Scotland is really holding its own when it comes to raising awareness and providing opportunities for people who stammer.

Jan: As this is primarily a conference for people who stammer, I had the interesting experience of coming out as a non-stammering participant to lots of delegates in the first couple of days. I had to decide shall I wait until my listener finds out or shall I mention it right away? it got me thinking how this parallels the daily but reversed experience of people who stammer, and for me the direct approach worked best!

And the social/cultural experience of Congress?

Jan: Sharing several plates of oysters with Mark Irwin (former ISA Chair, Australia), Darko Rundek (Croatia) and Manfred Fitzner (Germany) in a shady Dubrovnik square. Dubrovnik was truly a wonder to behold - its pale city ramparts and flagstones, smoothed over centuries; skyline of palaces, monasteries and churches and the romance of swallows swooping everywhere at dusk.

Roz: Our last evening in Croatia was spent having a meal with people who stammer from all over the world, we each took a turn to stand up and speak about the time we had spent together. It is an experience I will never forget - a group of people brought together by the fact that they stammer, relishing the chance of talking in front of such a large group and everyone getting a round of applause from members of the public who had stopped what they what they were doing to listen to us.

Claire: I enjoyed seeing members of the Dutch and Icelandic Associations again, as well as meeting new people. When everyone stammers, stammering is no longer an issue. I liked the conversations between workshops and in the evenings just as much as the formal presentations. We did not dwell on hard times, but focused on the present and making the most of being in Croatia. With early morning keynote speeches, workshops, presentations, site seeing, shopping, and late night drinking our time was action packed. The Congress lived on after the closing ceremony as many of us stayed on. I was suffering from sleep deprivation by the end of it! I could have quite happily stayed another week.

June 2007

Internet link: www.personal-style.de/fc/worldcongress - website with videos from the Croatia World Congress.