15th ISAD Online Conference

Blog by Voon Pang
October 10, 2012

For all of you who haven’t taken part in this year’s International Stuttering Awareness Day Online Conference, we’re at the halfway point and there is still plenty of time to post comments and questions to the authors of this year’s papers. A valuable feature of this annual conference is that it allows parents of children who stutter, and children, teens and adults who stutter to ask questions of highly qualified specialists in the area of stuttering.

Below is the link, make sure you follow the instructions from conference coordinator Judy Kuster!

http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/isad16/isadcon16.html

My favourites so far have been listening to the audio presentations of the speech-language pathologists who presented at last year’s American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) conference. Their paths toward recovery are food for thought and makes for valuable insights irrespective of whether or not you are a person who stutters. Other papers have been grouped under “Stuttering: Information and Issues”, “Clinical Nuggets: Treatment Treasures and Activities” and “Creative Expression” with each section featuring a smorgasbord of articles written from people from all walks of life in the stuttering community.

What have been some of your personal favourites? Has there been an article (or two), which has really resonated with you? Let us know your thoughts…

P.S. Here are the preliminary results of the survey I compiled asking for people’s reaction to the SNL Drill Sergeant Skit:

I’ll put up the full results after International Stuttering Awareness Day on October 22^nd! If you want to cast your vote, here is the link - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q9PNM38

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Mel Tillis

Mel Tillis, born Lonnie Melvin Tillis, was an influential figure in country music, both as a songwriter and a performer. His journey to fame was marked by overcoming personal challenges, including a stutter that he turned into a defining part of his public persona.

James Earl Jones

Actor James Earl Jones, a Broadway, television and movie star, is well-known for his voice as Darth Vader in Star Wars and his book Voices and Silences. Jones has spoken some of the most memorable lines in the history of American film, but the man known for his voice was once afflicted with a severe stutter.

Bruce Willis

While the world knows Bruce Willis as an A-list actor, few know that he struggled with stuttering throughout his first 20 years.

Walter Bruce Willis was born in 1955 in West Germany to his German mother, Marlene, and his American GI father, David Willis. The family settled in David’s hometown of Penns Grove, New Jersey in 1957, and the couple has three other children.

Winston Churchill

Seeking to "remove Winston Churchill's stutter by second guessing the diagnosis" indicates neither a truthful retelling of history nor an informed opinion about a complex speech disorder, say experts in the field of speech-language pathology.

Recent news reports that quote Dr. John Mather, a Washington physician, as saying that Churchill's stutter "is a lie" brought adamant critical response from specialists in the field of stuttering and fluency disorders.

Frank Wolf

This Virginian congressman has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981. The longtime supporter of the Stuttering Foundation drew national attention to childhood stuttering in 2006 when he submitted an article about Tiger Woods from the SFA newsletter to the Congressional Record. The congressman is featured in the Stuttering Foundation's Famous People Who Stutter brochure.