Posts Tagged ‘Canadian Stuttering Association’
Our Voices Matter
Posted on: November 17, 2024
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I recently had the great pleasure of attending the Canadian Stuttering Association annual conference for the first time last week. The conference was held in Montreal, Quebec and was less than a four hour drive for a friend and I so that clinched our decision to attend.
It was a joint conference with the ABC (Association begaiment communication) which is the French speaking arm of the Canadian stuttering associations. It meant that there were workshops in both English and French, which was richly inclusive to all.
I loved the conference. There was a total of 150 people, which opened the door to get to know people better than in situations where there are large groups of people.
The Workshops were fantastic, something for everyone, and anytime we were together as a group, announcements were made both in English and French.
I did a workshop on recovering from the shame many of us deal with stuttering, which turned into a great discussion about what if you’ve never been able to let go of shame. What if shame consumes your every moment?
My friend Nicole did a workshop on stuttering and grief, which gave people a different perspective to look at stuttering. She encouraged us to look at how we felt about perhaps having given up some of our dreams when we realized that stuttering made us better at some things than others.
I met a lot of first time attendees and thought what a great experience to step into the stuttering community in a smaller setting. Many first timers came up and spoke at the final open mic session.
The CSA’s motto is “Our Voices Matter” and I came away from the conference experience definitely feeling like that. Plus, it didn’t hurt that I saw friends that I hadn’t seen in quite a few years.
This was my first international conference and I am so glad I went.
Episode 225 features return guest Alexandra D’Agostino, who hails from Ottawa, Canada. Alexandra is 27 years old, has recently become a Registered Nurse and is looking forward to a new job. Alexandra decided to get into nursing/medicine after realizing it would be a good career fit. She has always liked medicine, even going so far as watching surgeries on YouTube.
Alexandra was a guest four years ago, in September 2016, where we discussed the Cycles of Stuttering. As noted in her previous episode, Alexandra is still very much involved in the stuttering community, as are her parents. Alex notes that she had to miss two NSA conferences when she was still in Nursing school, but her mom went to the NSA conference anyway.
Listen in as we discuss advertising, disclosure, authenticity and volunteering.
Alexandra also shares about her involvement in the Canadian Stuttering Association hosting their first online virtual conference last month. It was a very successful event and drew people who might not have been able to attend due to distance. We talked about the potential of stuttering associations offering both in-person and virtual events so that more people can be included.
What a great conversation.
Explore Your Options -Episode 176
Posted on: April 18, 2018
Episode 176 features Lisa Wilder, who hails from Toronto, Canada. Lisa has been involved with the Canadian Stuttering Association for about 11 years. She prefers behind the scenes work and thus enjoys serving as the webmaster for the CSA.
Listen in as we discuss the goals and vision of the Canadian Stuttering Association, it’s annual conference held in October and how the CSA is essentially a labor of love for those involved.
We also discuss speech therapy, keeping up on research and new ideas in the field of therapy, and how change in attitude and mindset is often more of a game changer than actually focusing on speech strategies.
We also talk about the importance of not caring so much about what other people may think about your speech and looking at options if you think stuttering is holding you back.
The music used in today’s episode is credited to ccMixter.
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