Autumn 2001

6 TH WORLD CONGRESS FOR PEOPLE WHO STUTTER 23 - 26 JULY, 2001 - GHENT, BELGIUM

A workshop presented jointly by Michael Sugarman (ISA and National Stuttering Associaion/USA), Andrew Harding (British Stammering Association) and Konrad Schäfers (ELSA) intended to highlight the issue of stuttering and discrimination.

As opposed to the United States and Canada, in Europe there is no long tradition of looking at the problems of disabled people in the context of human rights. Michael Sugarman reviewed the development in North America where for 30 years the living conditions of disabled people have been recognised as a form of denying civil rights.

The disability rights movement sprang up out of the experiences and lessons learned from the struggles of other minority groups. The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990 was not accompanied by public education or media awareness, nor the wrongs being righted by ADA. As a consequence for people living with stuttering laws protecting our civil rights continue to operate in a traditional cultural and attitudinal and media context of "being nervous" or "incompetent".

This view of people who stutter persists, in spite of the fact that the disability rights movement was based on the perspective that people who stutter have a right to full and equal protection in society and a recognition that a primary barrier to societal participation is discriminatory attitudes.

To learn more about ADA and your country's disability laws Michael recommends to go to www.dredf.org/symposium/index.html. If you want to discuss how ADA applies to stuttering ask Bill Parry at wdparry@aol.com

From the European point of view the ADA - even though maybe not perfect - can be called one of the world's leading and most specific anti-discrimination legislations. The ADA is considered to be the "mother law" for current EU initiatives aiming at a specific anti-discrimination legislation in the European Union.

By summarizing the results of a recent ELSA survey, Konrad Schäfers explained the attitudes and policies of European national stuttering associations when it comes to stuttering and discrimination. Most associations state that there is discrimination against people who stutter. The main areas in which potential or actual discrimination can be identified are employment and education (particularly school). Two countries (Sweden, UK) regard neglection of therapeutic services as a form of discrimination.

A first consequence from this is to combat discrimination by prevention, or at a pre-legal stage. Accordingly, the majority of associations agrees that lack of information is one of the main sources of discrimination. In consequence, spreading information and educating the public and particular target groups (employers, teachers) is seen as a way to both preventing and combating discrimination.

Another important reason may be that a constitutional clause is not specific enough. Many countries' constitutions have clauses like "Every person is entitled to equal treatment irrespective of any handicap" but this clause does not automatically abolish discrimination.

What is needed is a specific anti-discrimination legislation. The European Union included an anti-discrimination clause in the EU Treaties (the "Amsterdam Treaty" of 1997). Currently the European Commission is preparing a directive which would be compulsive for all member states, that means all EU member states will be obliged to implement an anti-discrimination legislation in their national law.

Konrad closed by saying that the discussion about stuttering, disability and discrimination will probably remain controversial. But no matter if anybody felt disabled or discriminated against individually, this was an issue stuttering organisations have to deal with. "An anti-discrimination legislation can be a powerful tool when it comes to fighting for the rights of people who are different and fighting for their right to BE different."

"Fighting for the rights of people who are different and fighting for their right to BE different."

An example of how a stuttering association can deal with the issue of stuttering and discrimination was introduced by Andrew Harding of the British Stammering Association.

The difficulties of getting a job, a promotion and a fair go are being tackled head-on in the new BSA employment project to be launched in October. Two information packs will be produced in the first phase of the three-year project; one for people who stammer and one for employers.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) and the emphasis on best practice through the Investors in People standard require projects enabling employers to develop their employees skills and provide good customer service.

Self-advocacy and best practice are major themes of the project. There will be information on employee rights and employer responsibilities under die DDA, with information on how the Act applies to stammering.

The first tasks of the project are to provide information on stammering to employers, and advice on interviews and workplace communcation to people who stammer. Both packs will have ideas and suggestions to overcome limitations of stammering at work; not sterile formulas, but advice on what works from people who are successful, and who just happen to stammer.

The launch is scheduled for October 22, 2001 - international stuttering awareness day. For further information on the BSA project please contact Andrew harding at ah@stammering.org.

(The report on Andrew's presentation is based on an article in BSA's magazine Speaking Out, Winter 2000/2001