Articles

My name is Ridwana, and I am joining the Board of Directors as the Social Media Coordinator.

My name is Irvin. I am a 79 year old farmer from Central Saskatchewan. I want to tell the story of my stuttering journey. I don't remember when it started but I remember stuttering since public school. I stuttered and had blocks, but I will mostly refer to them both only as stutters.

In the months of October to December in 2025, I participated in the SingWell Project. This project is a weekly singing group for people who stutter. I was happy to know my previous singing experience in the shower was acceptable.

As Catherine Moroney’s mother, I was the object of repeated requests to attend the conference this year (2025) and I finally agreed.

In September 2025, I decided to finally do something I had been thinking about for a long time – to write a song about stammering, about how I experience my own stammer.

I have always stuttered as far as I could remember my earliest memory of speaking. I could barely get past two phrases without being impeded by a speech block. I couldn’t fathom why my speech never came out smooth like everybody else’s.

This is a story of how my stuttering became, at least for a while, something less than 99.99% better. At times it is a bit of a scary story for me. At times, it is even a bit humourous. And a few times, however, it felt glorious and triumphant.  

At 15, I believed I was doomed to stutter for the rest of my life. I had misread an article, interpreting it as a life sentence. That misinterpretation led me to a desperate moment, standing on top of a 33-meter tower, ready to give up.

For Sathvega Somasundaram, stuttering has never been just a speech impediment. She has been able to use it in a way that has shaped her for who she is today, and shows her lifelong journey of growth.