The 13-minute film, portraying a man who stutters who is searching for love, took home the Best Short Film (Live Action) Oscar. It was written, directed and edited by Dublin filmmaker Benjamin Cleary. He accepted the award with Producer Shan Christopher Ogilvie.
French-speaking people who stutter in Quebec have created a support group and website for their group, L’Association des bègues du Canada. Their beautiful and informative website is a valuable resource for French-speaking people who stutter in Quebec, and provides information about stuttering, links to obtain therapy and information about support groups in that province.
An adjunct association, l'Association des Jeunes Bègues du Québec (l'AJBQ), provides intensive group therapy by SLPs (at a cost) for children and adults.
The CSA Board of Directors and conference co-organizers
On Saturday, October 24, the Canadian Stuttering Association annual one-day conference had an overwhelming response with over 100 people in attendance. People who stutter of all ages attended, along with speech-language pathologists, SLP students, parents and friends. Among the guests were people from the United States, Quebec and other cities across Ontario.
In August of 1991, a ground-breaking conference took place in Banff, Alberta. Initiated by leaders of support groups from Toronto and Edmonton, it brought together people who stutter from across Canada, as well as speech-language pathologists and family members. Out of this conference came the Canadian Association for People who Stutter (CAPS), later to be renamed the Canadian Stuttering Association.
The African Stuttering Research Centre, located in Kigali, Rwanda, is bringing help to people who stutter in Africa. Heading the organization is Dieudonne Nsabimana, a person who stutters. He is working with the Stuttering Foundation of America to translate materials about stuttering to Swahili. His goal is to distribute the booklets in school libraries.
Thursday is International Stuttering Awareness Day, and the annual online conference, featuring papers written about stuttering and other speech disorders, is in full swing. You can check it out here. The categories are Stories and Experiences with Stuttering by PWS; Research, Therapy and Support; Mental Health and Stuttering; and Creative Expression. The theme of the conference is "Education, Cooperation and Communication".