My name is Akaiya Bryant, and I am a sophomore in college. I currently live in Indianapolis, IN. My current major is Special Education and ASL interpreting. I am still undecided on what I want to pursue as a career. But, I am currently looking into becoming an Interpreter for the Deaf. I have had a stutter since the age of 4, and have attended several stuttering conventions in the past. In my free time, I enjoy doing arts and crafts, reading, and spending time with my miniature poodle, Sophie.

Andrea Callegaro is a teacher and person who stutters. Between the age of 7 to 30, he hid his stutter, until one day he stumbled upon some articles on stuttering proudly. He became active in the international stuttering community, where he has met many new friends and is now serving as the Chair of Stamily, an international association for people who stutter. In his free time, Andrea enjoys reading, climbing, learning languages, and taking long walks in the mountains.

Anita S. Blom, born and raised in the Netherlands, is living in Sweden. She worked as an operation manager for the Workers’ Educational Association. She has been a board member, incl chairperson, of stuttering organisations on local, national, European and International level, and an advisory board member of several international stuttering organisations. She was a national and international keynote speaker on stuttering, had her own stuttering consultant company, was one of the Stutter Social hosts, and was a project leader of several stuttering projects. She was also a leader of national and international children and youth camps for over 20 years and was rewarded, twice, with the Member Of The Year Award. 

Anita, aka Scatsis, has stuttered since she was 9 and had a troublesome youth because of her stuttering. She went from being silent, to giving stuttering a voice, from pre-school children to the European Parliament, now inspiring people who stutter of all ages they can make a difference. Do check out her previous papers to the ISAD online conferences. Due to health issues she now has to take it slow, but is still an inspiration to many, acknowledged by Voice Unearthed on the Wall Of Inspiration, and many others. Her device, that’s now been used all over the world is “Sure I stutter. What are you good at?”

Audrey Bigras is an adult who stutters. She is the president of the Association Bégaiement Communication (ABC), a stuttering association based in Montreal that provides information, help and support for adults who stutter in the province of Quebec (Canada). She has been involved in the stuttering community for eight years and has attended many events related to stuttering, both locally and internationally. She has also facilitated many workshops.

Bevin Murphy, 24, has been stuttering since she was five years old. Bevin prefers to refer to herself as a person who stutters rather than a stutterer because she does not let her stutter define her. And, like everyone else, she has her good days when she feels confident and can speak without fear of stuttering. She also has bad days when she struggles with her stuttering. However, having a parent who also stutters was and continues to be a huge help to her because she has someone who understands her and with whom she can discuss her stutter. Bevin is currently working as the Administrative Assistant for the Irish Stammering Association, which she credits with inspiring her to be her true self. Bevin also has a blog called My Stutter and I, where she openly discusses her stutter and raises awareness about stuttering. She is thrilled to be a member of the PWS panel for ISAD 2022.

My name is Chantal Anderson. My stammer was dormant up until my late teens. Then at age 16, I was deeply into singing, songwriting, and playing several instruments, which I believe got me through a period of my life relatively unscathed, where I was barely speaking at all. I currently live in the UK, am a Civil Servant and a Trustee of STAMMA (British Stammering Association).

Jon Symons was born in Yorkshire, brought up, educated and worked in Aberdeenshire and now lives on the Greek island of Crete. His oilfield career began in 1975 and ended in 2007 when he sold his company to an American multinational and retired to a small village close to the old Cretan capital of Chania. He has stammered all his life, been on various courses over the years and has previously been active on international stuttering forums.

Paul Goldstein has studied in quite a few fields, including music composition, mathematics, and speech-language pathology. He spent his first 46 years in the United States, during which he worked as nightclub and concert pianist, concert director, music instructor, computer programmer, and speech-language clinician. Twenty-two years ago he moved to Norway to marry. Since then, he has worked in social services as a foster “weekend father”, and as a pianist-composer. Paul has stuttered since his first sentences at age 3. His journey has taken him through decades of speech therapies, including various fluency shaping programs. Through intensive practice, he enjoyed many extended periods of fluency. However, he now simply accepts himself peacefully as a person who happens to stutter. Active for decades in national and international stuttering organizations, Paul has attended numerous stuttering conferences, and has published a number of stuttering-related articles. He is also an administrator in Facebook’s largest stuttering forum.

Shiran Israel, age 38, is married with two daughters, is a person who stutters and a member of the Israeli Stuttering Association. She is a PhD student at Reichman University, Israel, with a background in Economics and Psychology. Her research focuses on mindfulness and social judgment of people who stutter, and the effect of mindfulness and self-compassion on the experience of stuttering.

Veronica Lynch has stuttered from the age of three. From a young age, about eight or nine years, she was covert about her stammering and put a lot of time and energy into hiding it for most of her life. When her youngest daughter, Bevin (also on this panel), began to stutter, Veronica decided it was time to address and come to terms with her own stammer. So, in her 40s, Veronica started speech therapy and became involved in the stammering community in Ireland. Veronica has served on the Irish Stammering Association board and helped develop the organization’s services for young people who stammer. Veronica currently co-facilitates the bi-monthly adult support group and a monthly parent support group. She credits Bevin with inspiring her to be open about her stammer and accept herself as a person who stutters. She is delighted to be part of the PWS panel for ISAD 2022.