Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to recognize International Stuttering Awareness Day, which takes place tomorrow. In supporting this awareness, I’d also like to recognize a former constituent, Ms. Karen Hollett, who is with us in the gallery today, who recently published a book about a young girl who stutters. A heart-warming story, Hooray for Aiden, was written by Ms. Hollett, who knows firsthand how challenging life can be for a young person who stutters. It is an excellent book that shows how a young grade 2 student named Aiden overcomes her fear of speaking in class and about how people who stutter can be anything they want to be.
Mr. Speaker, stuttering affects 5 percent of young children during the years they’re learning to speak. Often this disability has negative consequences on a person’s self-confidence and self-acceptance. But there are effective treatments for both children and adults. Typically, the earlier a child gets help, the better the outcome. There are many resources out there, Mr. Speaker, for parents, educators and school counsellors who work with children or adults who stutter. The Canadian Stuttering Association has an excellent website at stutter.ca, and Ms. Hollett has a great website at hooraypublishing.com.
Stuttering, Mr. Speaker, is a disability that doesn’t get talked about very much, but it can have a devastating effect on school children who are teased by their peers. Hooray for Aiden is a book that belongs in all school libraries across our Territory. As a teaching tool it will inspire a child who stutters or perhaps has another disability, and will educate children who don’t.
Mr. Speaker, I highly recommend the book and encourage all Members to read it and to share it with young people in their communities, and that the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment look at putting a copy of Hooray for Aiden in each and every school across our Territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Members already know now, tomorrow, October 22nd, is International Stuttering Awareness Day, and I’m going to use my statement today to talk about stuttering.
Statistics show that in the NWT alone approximately 500 children and adults could be affected by stuttering, but it’s a little known, little acknowledged condition, Mr. Speaker. We don’t often speak about it. Stuttering is a condition which we as a society are uncomfortable with. It’s a disability that’s kept in the shadows, one that nobody talks about.
For differing reasons, people with a stuttering disability tend to avoid being out in the public. They cut themselves off from the world to avoid speaking. But when humans remove themselves from society, it has devastating consequences for both the individual and for societies. That’s because we as human beings are social creatures, Mr. Speaker. We learn through socializing and personal interaction, and that means talking to each other. We preserve our history through oral stories, the spoken word passed down from generation to generation. Thankfully society has come a long way in our acceptance of people with disabilities. We now include them in our regular school classes. We welcome the diversity they bring to our communities and our workplaces.
Stuttering, however, is a disability that children still report being teased and bullied about and children can outgrow stuttering, but many do not. It’s a condition which can be helped, it can be modified, it can even be cured, and any child who stutters should be assessed by a speech language pathologist. The earlier a child gets help, the better he or she is.
So what can we do to accommodate stutterers? We can accept them as valued members of our society, just as they are. We can encourage them when conversing by making eye contact and not looking away. We can encourage them by not finishing their sentence, just be patient and give them time to say what they have to say.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to also honour Ms. Karen Hollett, who is here with us today. Karen recently published her first book Hooray for Aiden. She is the author and the publisher of the book and, again, it’s about a young girl who stutters. The book itself has received rave reviews from North American and British stuttering associations. Congratulations on your achievement, Karen, well done.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
