2016 Conference Recap

Conference groupConference organizers with Keynote Speaker Geoff Regan

The 2016 Canadian Stuttering Association conference successfully took place on October 22. Keynote speaker Geoff Regan, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, spoke about his experiences in the world of politics and his personal life. We were pleased to have Mr. Regan at our third Toronto CSA conference!

A wide variety of people attended the event, not only people who stutter but family members and SLPs. Some travelled from cities as far as Calgary, and we had the pleasure of a visit from our friends from Quebec who are involved with the Francophone group for people who stutter ABC Beguilement. Thanks to everyone for coming!

The conference offered a rich and varied program on many topics related to stuttering. Some of the most popular were Mary Wood's workshop on self esteem, David Stones' session on fluency, and a panel of four people who stutter discussing how they are effected in the workplace.

At noon a delicious lunch was served and people enjoyed some social time and mingling. We celebrated the twenty fifth anniversary of the Canadian Stuttering Association, founded in 1991, with a beautiful cake.

As usual with conferences for people who stutter, a major highlight was the Open Mic session at the end of the program, where people had the chance to give their reflections on the event and express their experiences and thoughts about stuttering. Many attendees went out for an enjoyable dinner afterwards.Carla and MaryCarla and Mary at the Registration Desk

This conference was made possible by the volunteer CSA Conference Committee: Andrew Harding, National Coordinator; Casey Kennedy, Program Coordinator and Emcee; Melina Etienne, Venue and Catering Coordinator; Lisa Wilder, Graphics and Web; David Stones, Fundraising; Dan Leca, Audio Visual; Alexandra D’Agostino, Danielle Moed and Samuel Dunsiger, Social media; Carla Di Domenicantonio and Mary Wood, Registrations.

We will soon be posting photo documentation of the conference on our Flickr page, so stay tuned!