Articles

Mike Hughes, a Canadian pioneer for stuttering support and self-help

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Category: Personal Stories

Published: Sunday, 27 March 2011 06:45

Written by Carla Di Domenicantonio

This article was originally published in the Winter 2011 issue of CSAVoices.

Mike Hughes

I reacted with numbing sadness and disbelief when news arrived that Mike Hughes had passed away on September 22nd, 2010.

Over many years, Mike had been a friend, a supporter and a mentor. We were linked by a common interest in stuttering.

For 22 years Mike Hughes was the Executive Director of Speak Easy Canada Inc., Canada’s first, charitable organization for people who stutter, which he founded in 1984. Based in Saint John, New Brunswick, Mike was already involved in helping those who, like him, stuttered.

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My Journey from a Student Who Stutters to a Teacher Who Stutters

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Category: Personal Stories

Published: Friday, 30 April 2010 13:14

Written by Scott Kerby

Scott Kerby

When I think of my chosen profession, and how it came to be, I see that being a person with a mild to severe stutter has played an important role in defining who I am and what I chose to do as an occupation. For the past twelve years, I have been teaching in the public school system, and currently, I’m a Special Education teacher at F.H. Collins high school in Whitehorse, Yukon. Before that, I was involved in instructing outdoor education and leadership programs based out of Toronto.

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If I stutter, what help is out there for me?

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Category: Personal Stories

Published: Friday, 30 April 2010 13:11

Written by Jaan Pill

Jaan PillMany treatment options are available for people who stutter. What follows are my personal opinions on this topic — based on my experiences, which may well differ from your own.My personal views do not represent the views of the Canadian Stuttering Association, of which I’m a co-founder. CSA neither endorses nor rejects any particular approach to dealing with stuttering.

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Leaving the Fear Behind

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Category: Personal Stories

Published: Friday, 30 April 2010 13:15

Written by Lee Heard

The following is an edited version of the presentation Lee Heard gave at the 2007 CSA Conference in Toronto, and also appeared in the Spring 2008 CSA newsletter.

Lee Heard at CSA2007

The Oxford Dictionary defines fear as “an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.” This describes what we ordinarily feel when entering speaking situations with a stutter.

Our fear is not so much caused by danger, but by the expected emotional pain or harm to our self esteem that could be caused should our speech not go the way we planned. While fear lies just below the water in Russ Hicks’ Iceberg Anthology of stuttering, many of the emotions below it are enabled by giving into the fear. This is why in order to be free to live our lives as we choose we need to leave this fear behind.

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