ISAD in Korea
In Korea we have been celebrating ISAD since the 1st ISAD in 1998 and we have prepared a workshop on the treatment of school-aged children who stutter this year. More importantly professors and clinicians interested in stuttering have gathered to form “Korean Cooperative Society with stuttering(Chairperson: Dr. Hyunsub Sim, Ewha Woman’s University)”.
This year the workshop, organized by Dr. Moonja Shin(Chosun University), was held on the 11th of October at Ewha Woman’s University, and Kristen Chmela, Director of the Chmela Fluency Center and co-director of Camp Shout Out, made a presentation on the importance of feelings and attitudes in the management of school-aged children who stutter. In addition she also presented on positive experiences that those who stutter would have during stuttering camp of Camp Shout Out. Almost 300 students, clinicians, and people who stutter took part in the workshop. In addition there will be several workshops specifically for kindergarten teachers in and around Seoul area throughout rest of the year.
I never really thought about the concept of stuttering in any language besides English, but now I am really curious about it. I tried to find videos of stuttering in Korean but I couldn’t find any. I am really interested in hearing what dysfluencies sound like in Korean because I’m so used to hearing/speaking Korean without dysfluencies. I wonder how the structure of the language and the difference in phonetics affects stuttering and how stuttering affects someone who speaks Korean. I wonder if maybe stuttering is more of a stigma in Korean culture, as is disabilities in general. It’s great to hear that there are resources for people who stutter who live in/around Seoul.