What a conference it was in St. John's, Newfoundland, just several days ago! The spirit of Newfoundland, described as a blend of resilience, togetherness, and a deep connection to the land and community, permeated the CSA-NLSA 2026 Conference from start to finish.
The conference opened with a Meet and Greet on Friday night. With Newfoundland music comfortably playing in the background, people mingled as they creatively assembled tacos using ingredients laid out on a self-serve table and walked them over to round tables in a large hall where conversation and laughter soon became the foreground. New friendships were initiated and old ones were rekindled.
As if through the serendipitous guidance of an Atlantic wave, an old-time CAPS member (the CSA's former name), Tony Intas, was brought to the Meet and Greet. Tony happened to be at the Delta Hotel, noticed the conference banners in the hallway, and came in search of friends and acquaintances from his past. He found a few, including Bill Marsh of Ontario who had not been to a conference in several years and was visiting family in Newfoundland. Surprise reunions took place.
Saturday opened with a warm welcome from Greg O'Grady and Eeva Stierwalt, and logistics aptly delivered by David Liu.
Rosalee Shenker's keynote address, which became one of the highlights of the day, followed. Rosalee shared insights and lessons she learned from her work with children who stutter, their parents and adults who stutter over a five-decade long career. Rosalee shared her career trajectory from generalist clinician to stuttering specialist. Her professional development was shaped by predominant theories and clinical methods from various points in time and by Canadian, American and Australian stuttering experts and leaders, some of whom became mentors, collaborators and friends. The historical progression of therapy approaches was interesting to hear, and the photos from days past were great! Thanking Rosalee Shanker from the audience, Catherine Moroney described how, while a student at McGill University in the 1980's, she mustered the courage to walk up the hill to Rosalee's office and asked for help. The encounter, as reported by Catherine, changed her life. Thank you, Rosalee, for a memorable keynote!
The rest of day delivered a choice of concurrent workshops on various topics of interest, interrupted only by a delicious Italian lunch buffet and refreshment breaks.
The evening banquet was another Saturday highlight. Following a delicious three-course dinner, noisy, colourfully masqueraded, and dancing "mummers" streamed into the banquet hall, weaving between tables and coaxing diners to join in their dance. Their costumes were bizarre to say the least!
"What are mummers?" you ask. Mummers are part of a Newfoundland tradition associated with Christmas in which members of the community disguise themselves to the point of being unrecognizable. They knock on doors to be let into homes as strangers (usually the homes of known persons) and once inside egg on the homeowner and host to identify them. A successful identification allows the unmasked mummer to enjoy refreshments offered by the host. It is customary for unmasked mummers to invite their host in return for a visit to their home during the festive days to come. The people disguised as mummers at our banquet had surreptitiously introduced themselves at unsuspecting tables during the banquet. "Another friendly Newfoundlander," we all thought. Consequently, we collectively only identified ONE of the mummers by using the same recalled name - repeatedly! There were many laughs as we unsuccessfully tried to identify each mummer.
The noisy, dancing mummers were followed by a Screech-in and Kiss the Cod ceremony. A surprising number of diners lined up to be screeched in and proudly become honorary Newfoundlanders. Each in turn, to the uncomfortable amusement of less daring onlookers, proceeded to kiss the cod and were given a shot of screech with which to wash down any unpleasantness – we think! This ceremony was also a lot of fun to participate in and/or watch form the sidelines.
Sunday's keynote address featured Catherine Moroney, who is also a loved and appreciated CSA Board member. Despite a severe stutter, Catherine has had a successful life. She is surrounded by the support of family, friends and others, and she has had a remarkable career as a physicist and software engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, for more than 30 years thanks to a sharp manager who did not care about how she talked and rather focussed on her qualifications and skills. He did not steer her towards taking a back seat but gave her front row presence instead. Catherine's message for anyone who thinks that they cannot do anything until they learn to speak "fluently" is to get out and use their talents and passion to make your own mark in the world. Fluency may not be part of the journey, but in the end, she questioned whether fluency is at all necessary. Catherine's story and her messages were indeed touching and inspiring. Thank you, Catherine, for a much-appreciated keynote.
The Saturday and Sunday open mic sessions were also highlights of the conference. Tom Scharstein and his stepdaughter, Annie Hernandez, co-animated the first open mic, and CSA Board member, Lisa Wilder, facilitated the second. For some, it was their first time at the mic in front of a larger crowd. Themes that were heard repeatedly had to do with the benefits of networking with others who share similar life experiences, the welcoming and warm acceptance felt at the conference, the sense of connection and belonging, and most often stated, finding a family in our stuttering community. These internal experiences perfectly fit with the theme of this year's conference: at Home with Stuttering. Home and family are where we find love, support and a sense of belonging.
We thank the Delta Hotel and its incredible staff, from the events manager and registration desk staff to the cooks, servers and housekeepers who looked after us with pride and care. We thank the wonderful Memorial University student volunteers who staffed our registration and sales table over two days. Your presence freed us to partake in this important event that we so carefully planned over many months. We are grateful to family members and spouses who helped with set up and take down and other random tasks, including technical support. Finally, we thank members of the planning committee from the NLSA and CSA Boards and volunteers from the stuttering community. Special thanks to Greg O'Grady and Paul De Decker of the NLSA, and Eeva and David of the CSA for their leadership in planning this conference. Ginormous thanks to our fabulous keynote speakers and workshop presenters, and to the locals and "come from aways" attending from various parts of the country and even from abroad, for an unforgettable conference! This one will be hard to beat!
In the meantime, let us all hold on to that incredible feeling, and remember that the CSA provides in-person and online support groups that can be an uplifting hand of support when needed throughout the next year.
We can't wait to meet up again next year! Stay tuned to learn where the next conference will be.