International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD) is annually celebrated across the globe on October 22 to create awareness about the speech disorder known as stuttering or stammering.
- The ISAD online conference has been an integral part of the ISAD since its inception.
Symbol: Since 2009, the Sea-Green Ribbon has been used as a stuttering awareness ribbon for ISAD.
- The Sea-Green Ribbon Campaign aims to spread awareness about all mental health difficulties to help end mental health stigma and discrimination.
Background:
i. In 1997, International Stuttering Awareness Day was initiated by Michael Sugarman, the co-founder of the National Stuttering Project (NSP), from Oakland, California, United States (US).
ii. In 1998, International Stuttering Awareness Day was declared to be observed on October 22 every year by the European League of Stuttering Associations (ELSA), the International Fluency Association (IFA), and the International Stuttering Association (ISA).
iii. The 1st ISAD was observed on 22nd October 1998.
ISAD Online Conference 2022:
i. ISAD 2022 Online Conference started on October 1 and finishes on October 31, acknowledging the many events around the world on October 22.
- The International Stuttering Association (ISA) has been running the online conference since 2013.
ii. ISAD Online conference 2022 marks the 25th ISAD Online Conference.
- Theme: “Being Seen, Being Heard- Representation and normalization of stuttering in the mainstream”.
iii. The conference is a private initiative by volunteers, and independent of any organisation.
Stuttering:
i. Stuttering(stammering or childhood-onset fluency disorder) is a speech disorder involving frequent problems with normal fluency and flow of speech.
- It is characterized by: repeated words, sounds, or syllables; halting speech production; uneven rate of speech.
ii. More than 7 crore people across the world are affected by stuttering.
iii. According to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), stuttering affects about 5 to 10% of all children at some point, most often occurring between ages 2 to 6.
- The 3 types of stuttering are developmental stuttering, neurogenic stuttering, and psychogenic stuttering.
About the International Stuttering Association (ISA):
Chair- Douglas Scott (United States America)
Establishment- 1995
