I am a person who stutters, and I’ve stuttered since I could first speak. When I was much younger, I was hardly even aware I had a speech disability. My parents assumed my difficulty speaking was just a phase I would grow out of, and I didn’t really think about my stutter at all. One day in first grade, everything changed. I remember a school project where I had to present a report in front of the entire class with my friend. There was a point where I began to stumble over my words — stuttering and blocking — and at one point I was unable to say anything at all.

There were many highlights of our CSA 2023 Conference at the beautiful Lord Elgin Hotel in downtown Ottawa!  

The Banquet Dinner

On Saturday night November 4 2023, the Banquet Dinner of the Canadian Stuttering Association took place.

Photo: Cynthianna, age 10, with Eeva Stierwalt, CSA National Coordinator

My name is Cynthia and I am a Mother of two children who stutter:  Nathdaniel, age 17 and Cynthianna, age 10. 

When they were small children, we didn’t know what they had, They both had trouble speaking and had a stutter. There is no speech therapist (SLP) in our community. There was also a lack of resources in our community to help my kids and eventually we had to go privately with an SLP (Anny Dubé) in a nearby city. 

I’ve been stuttering since I was 2. My mom says that she first noticed it when she got me a pink toy kitchen for Christmas. I was so excited, I couldn’t even speak.

So basically, I’ve been stuttering for pretty much my entire life. I didn’t really ever think very much of it. I wasn’t self conscious about my stutter, it was just part of who I was.

It's no secret that peer support, and opportunities to meet and interact with one another, in both social and educational environments, are beneficial for people who stutter. Worldwide, tens of thousands of people who stutter attend support groups and conferences. What is shown empirically, through research and study, about the nature of these encounters and their advantages?

My Name... My Name is Don McLean. My Name... is Don McLean.