BENGALURU: In a bid to raise awareness on stammering and to dispel misconceptions created by films, media and society in general, a national-level conference will take place in Bengaluru. To be held for the first time in the city, the eighth edition of the event organised by The Indian Stammering Association (TISA), Bengaluru chapter will see people from all over India attending it, in addition to guests from counterpart associations in the USA, Sri Lanka and other countries.
What started as a mere self-help group six years ago, grew into a larger network of entrepreneurs, comedians, theatre artists, businessmen, corporate professionals, public speakers, students, and the likes.
Abhinav Singh, coordinator of the Bengaluru chapter of TISA, says, “The purpose of this annual conference is to bring all People Who Stammer (PWS) under one roof. We want to make people aware of the problems a stammerer faces, how it affects his or her personal and professional life. Movies, be it in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi or any other Indian langauge, have an insensitive portrayal of stammering and look at it as something funny.”
“This has created a perception among people influenced by such content, that stammers are to be laughed at. We have a few sessions on our self-help groups. This is a fairly new concept in India but is common abroad. It helps stammerers share their challenges, emotions, experiences and they also work on techniques to better themselves,” says Abhinav, who will also be conducting a mock-interview simulation to help PWS gain confidence while job hunting.
The mental impact on PWS is deep-rooted, says Anupam Saxena, one of the speakers who will be conducting a session on ‘Emotional and Psychological aspects of Stammering’.“I have come across stammerers who suffer depression, guilt, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts and a tendency to cut-off from family and peers. They resort to career changes, as they don’t feel they can take up certain jobs,” explains Anupam, whose session will throw light on coping mechanisms to combat the above. Another session on entrepreneurship among stammerers will dwell upon the challenges faced by stammerers who are keen to launch startups.
Explaining the obstacles they face, Abhinav says,”If you stammer and go to meet a potential investor or venture capitalist, they are doubtful of your abilities and are hesitant to fund you. Even customers feel you may lack the knowledge on the subject. These are the kind of myths we want to dispel.”The conference will take place in Vidyadeep College, CRI Brothers Institute, Ulsoor Road from September 29 to October 1.
Meet for strength
Other sessions include - talk by comedians who stammer, voice training and other techniques to control stammering, TISA’s women wing dedicated to women who stammer,and the likes.