Speakers & Hosts

Adam is a poet whose collection Tremulous Hinge, influenced by his stammer, was the winner of the Iowa Poetry Prize in 2016. Adam deeply values his involvement in stammering communities, and works as a teaching artist and camp counsellor for SAY, the Stuttering Association for the Young.

Adam is  a person who stutters; the author of ‘Tremulous Hinge’ (University of Iowa  Press, 2017), winner of the Iowa Poetry Prize; and an Assistant Professor of  English at the United States Naval Academy. He often writes about stuttering  and deeply values his involvement in stuttering communities.

Aidan is  the co-Founder and Executive Director of SPACE, a Canadian stuttering  nonprofit. He has been collaborating with the stuttering community as an ally  for almost 15 years, and worked for over a decade in New York as a theatre  maker and arts educator.

Aisling is the Research Officer at the Irish Stammering Association (ISA), as well as a specialist speech and language therapist (European Specialist in Stuttering) working in independent practice.

Aisling has worked with the ISA for over 10 years and has a special interest in providing support services to teenagers and children who stammer, and their parents. Aisling enjoys sport, especially padel, and is trying to learn the guitar!

Alexa is a final-year student completing a Master's degree in speech and language therapy at Leeds Beckett University.

Alex is a qualified speech and language therapist and elected Trustee of STAMMA. He is passionate about bringing his own lived experiences as an autistic person who stammers to help change outcomes for others.

He has presented and written on the need for speech and language therapy, and society more broadly, to adopt a more compassionate and affirming approach to stammering.

Amruta is a mental health professional whose passion for dance, movement, and theatre informs her work. She trained in Indian classical and contemporary dance styles like Bharatnatyam and Odissi, and is a person who stammers. Amruta works as a Dramatherapist for children impacted by parental substance misuse at Oasis UK, and has a private practice as a Mental Health Consultant.

Amruta seeks to make Indian philosophies and classical arts more relevant to modern mental healthcare. Her approach is rooted in authenticity, creativity and a commitment to redefining narratives around diverse lived experiences, including stammering. Amruta's work is a continuous exploration of embodied self-expression, empowerment and collective healing.

Andrew  is an archivist who, as a manager, mentor and teacher, enjoys supporting the  professional development of people in his field. He is a person who stammers,  a trustee of 50 Million Voices, and a long-term member of STAMMA and of the  LGBTQ+ stuttering network Passing Twice.

Angélica  is a person who stutters and the director of Centro Especializado en Tartamudez (Specialised Center for Stuttering). She is a speech-language  pathologist currently pursuing a PhD at Florida State University under the  mentorship of Dr. Constantino. She facilitates monthly Spanish-language  support groups for parents through FRIENDS, a U.S.-based organisation for  kids who stutter.

Barbara is a part-time PhD student and has been a speech and language therapist for over 30 years. Working to support individuals to speak out AND be heard has shaped her research approach. Whenever possible, she tries to follow the insights of people with lived experience of the topic being explored.

Barbara  is a 'retired' specialist Speech and Language Therapist who is now studying  part-time at Birmingham City University, researching views of adults who  stammer about intervention(s) and support. As someone who does not stammer,  she chooses to work with support from a group of advisors who all live with  stammering.

Ben is the Course Director on the MSc speech and language therapy course at Leeds Beckett University. He is also a speech and language therapist and a Director for Talking Out Ltd, a charitably-funded practice providing specialist intervention for young people who stammer and their families from across the UK.

Ben is a  sergeant; an SRH Nurse Specialist, RAMS; and a Defence C-CBRN TT instructor.

Ben is  a person who stammers who works as a Trainee Clinical Psychologist at the  University of Surrey. He works across multiple settings in the NHS.     Ben has experience designing and co-facilitating the self compassion course  at City Lit and supporting the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy courses. He  has also conducted two research projects into the benefits of self-compassion  for people who stammer.

With a degree in English, Bevin works in the disability sector and is a self-declared stammering poet. Bevin says, "I believe that art is a valuable form of expression and I love using poetry to express myself and my experiences with a stammer".

Bevin  is a person who stutters and curator of the blog 'My Stutter and I', where  she shares her experiences and poetry about being a person who stutters. She  believes in the power of self-acceptance, honest storytelling, and creating  space for stuttering voices to be heard, valued and celebrated exactly as  they are.

Bhupinder  is a Senior Officer in the Civil Service within the education sector. She  runs the Coventry Stammerers group and co-runs the STAMMA Young People’s  Network. She also has a vlog on YouTube and TikTok called ‘The Stammering  Life’, where she shares her experience of being a person who stammers.

Bob is a highly experienced performance artist and specialises in dangerous tricks. His performance on Saturday night is a new piece of work, created for 2024. Do NOT try this at home - or even a friend's house!

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Bob is  a highly experienced public speaker and has addressed a wide range of people,  from offenders to business leaders, in council chambers to theatre stages.  

Bob is a qualified Performance Coach, Life Coach and is trained in Solution  Focused Therapy, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy and Neuro-Linguistic  Programming. He has been leading the Doncaster support group for over 20  years.

Cameron stammers and teaches literature and creative writing at the University of South Australia. He is a director of STUTTA, the Australian Stuttering Association, and volunteers as photographer for Camp SAY Australia, the summer camp for young people who stammer.

Cameron also writes short stories, novels and film scripts, and has had three books published and two short films produced.

Cameron  has stuttered since he could talk. He has a PhD on the moral subtext of  Aboriginal oral history and teaches creative writing at Adelaide University,  where he is also part of a small research team looking at improv as the basis  for therapy for young people who stutter.

Carolyn  is a person who stammers who has worked as a Speech and Language Therapist  (SLT) with adults who stammer since 1979. She is a mindfulness teacher and  has developed mindfulness courses for people who stammer and SLTs. She also  teaches on an Acceptance and Commitment course for people who stammer, and  teaches SLTs how to use this approach with clients.

Cathy is a filmmaker, researcher and nurse, who uses unique methods to creatively explore health-related experiences. Her practice-based PhD has evolved into the 'Stories Beyond Words' Collective, using co-created immersive video installations to share lived experiences of dysfluency.

Christine is a former Trustee of STAMMA and is an admin of the Women Who Stammer Facebook group. She enjoys participating in the online stammering community,  particularly supporting women who stammer.

Christine  (she/her) is from London and is a former STAMMA trustee. She is an admin of  the Women who Stammer Facebook group and co-coordinator of the Women's  Stammer Online support group. She enjoys participating in the online  stammering community, particularly supporting women who stammer.

Ciel is a person who clutters and says, "I learnt I had cluttering as an adult in 1993. I had therapy but didn't get along with it and quit. In 2017, I joined NIFS, the association in Norway for people who stammer, and have been a Board member since 2020. My goal is to share information about Cluttering".

Claire  is a counter-fraud expert and academic, as well as a seasoned international  keynote speaker covering fraud, disability and inclusion.    

In 2014, Claire also founded STUC (Stammerers Through University  Consultancy). Claire has recently started combining her passions to look at  the impact of stammering on fraud controls and vice versa.

Claire works in educational assessment research in Manchester. She is a member of the Women Who Stammer online support group, and volunteers with the STAMMA Minecraft Club for young people who stammer.

Claire  lives in Derby and has worked in education. She is a member of the Women who  Stammer online support group, and volunteers with the STAMMA Minecraft club  for young people who stammer.

Clara was pretty much born stammering and denying it. But since becoming a part of STAMMA and meeting its community, she is allowing her stammer to just be a part of her, like her crazy curly hair! Sometimes Clara engineers, sometimes she paints, but nearly always she eats cheese. She really can't stress enough how much she loves cheese!

Conor is an Irish creative practitioner based in London. As a proud person who stammers, he is interested in how disability intersects with creativity and how art and design can instigate social change.

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Craig has worked for the Ministry of Defence for 24 years. He served on the RAF Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort Austin during the second Gulf War and he has also done tours in Iraq and Kuwait. He was also stationed at the British Embassy in Washington DC for five years. Craig has stammered all of his life and took part in the Starfish Project course in 2018.

Cynthia is a Peruvian stammering therapist and ally with a Master's degree in Neuroeducation and Psychology. Currently living in the UK, she is a Board member of the World Stuttering Network, co-host of the podcast 'Historias de Tartamudez' ('Stammering Stories') and co-director of the Specialised Centre for Stuttering.

Daniele lives in Toronto, Canada. Stammering and drawing comics since he was four years old, Daniele grew up to eventually produce the 'Stuttering is Cool' podcast and enjoys drawing comics starring Franky Banky, a cartoon fox who stammers, both offering a positive view about stammering.

Dawid is an educator, speech therapist and founder of the New Speech school. He has been helping individuals for over 20 years and has appeared on TV and radio over 100 times, advocating for greater awareness of stammering. His YouTube channel about stammering has over 1,300 subscribers.

Debbie  is a Speech and Language Therapist who has spent 30 years working with  children and adults who stammer. She has always been fascinated by what  allows people to be authentic and reach their potential and what gets in the  way of this. She is trained in Internal Family Systems, Hypnotherapy,  Compassionate Inquiry, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Neuro-Linguistic  programming.

Emery attended the 2020 edition of the speech contest 'Eloquence of Stuttering' in France. It was the first time he was able to openly talk about stammering. To him it felt like home, a place where he didn't have to explain or justify himself because of his difference, and he decided to join the organisational team.

Emily's background is in performing arts and she specialises in inclusive dance. In 2019, she became involved with the 'Stories Beyond Words' project, which gives her satisfaction and the chance to collaborate with the creative team.

Farzana has lived experience of stammering and contributes to a range of Public Involvement projects. She advises on presenting information more simply and making research more appealing. Farzana wants to have an impact on how society sees people who stammer and move forward with the support and services we need.

Femke  is a stuttering specialist from The Netherlands, the co-owner of private  practice Logopediepraktijk Tilburg, and founder of a stuttering team  consisting of four specialised Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs). She  co-founded Stotterconnect, an organisation dedicated to Camp Dream. Speak.  Live and the training of SLTs. She is a stammering ally.

Gareth is a proud person who stammers and is the Founder of with VR. He has advised Meta, worked with Google, and spoken at 40+ conferences in the past three years. Gareth uses his voice to empower others to use theirs.

Geneviève is a person who stammers as well as a speech and language therapist and doctoral researcher at Université de Montréal. She is also a member of CinexMedia Lab, where she produces tools and resources aimed at guiding media professionals towards authentic and considerate portrayals of communication differences.

Geneviève  is a person who stutters and PhD candidate in speech-language therapy at  Université de Montréal researching stigma reduction through media  representation. As part of her PhD, she co-produced 'We Are the Audience'  with stuttering organisation SPACE. She also co-founded Voice and Media, a  research-creation initiative on stuttering representation.

Gill is a speech and language therapist, a lecturer at Birmingham City University, a doctoral student and a Trustee for STAMMA. She's particularly interested in how people can work together to create change across contexts and in improving access to and experience of healthcare services.

Gina is  a writer and former BBC professional with a background spanning broadcasting,  journalism and disability advocacy. She is a person who stammers, and is  active in several nonprofits serving the global stuttering community and its  allies. She is currently the Finance and Operations Executive at 50 Million  Voices.

Hanan  is an electronics engineer, working presently as a Quality and Regulatory  Management Consultant. He is a person who stutters, has been researching  stuttering for many years, and is author of the book 'Stuttering: from Shame  and Anxiety to Confident Authenticity'. His current primary interests are  equanimity, blues and stuttering.

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Hilary is the lead speech & language therapist at Liverpool’s Willy Russell Centre for Children and Adults who Stammer. She has a special interest in therapy and self-help groups for people who stammer, and she has played a key role in organising three previous STAMMA/BSA conferences.

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Hilary is the lead Speech and Language Therapist at Liverpool’s Willy Russell Centre for Children and Adults who Stammer. She has a special interest in therapy and self-help groups for people who stammer, and she has played a key role in organising three previous STAMMA/BSA conferences.

Iain is the founder of the charity 50 Million Voices, which helps to transform the world of work for people who stammer. A former partner with EY, he is now an executive coach working with quieter leaders struggling for their voices to be heard at work. Iain relishes spending time outdoors surrounded by nature and loves Americana music and singing.

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Ian is  a trustee of Empowering Voices, a UK charity that helps stammerers control  their speech using a costal breathing technique. He says, "I have used  and taught this technique for over 20 years. I am a supporter of STAMMA,  serving as an occasional panel member at stammering awareness events".

Jack, having been in denial about his stammer for too many years, is now trying to be more open about stammering. He is part of Community Navigator Services, a community interest company that challenges inequality. He is a freelance writer, a speed reader, and slow runner.

Jaclyn is a speech and language therapist, and a parent, with 20 years experience in the NHS and independent sector. Jaclyn is passionate about the way we talk to young people and the messages we give, and works alongside parents in supporting their children to grow as a confident communicator.

Teacher Jakub has been working at an independent school for almost five years and holds a degree in mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Having struggled with stammering and speech blocks for much of his life, he has been using the method of 'New Speech'.

Jakub is  a teacher who has been working at an independent school for over six years.  He holds an undergraduate degree in mathematics from the University of  Cambridge and has been pursuing a degree in Psychology. Jakub hopes to  transform the way that we view stammering.

James is a Health Geographer and qualitative researcher who is currently undertaking a PhD at Keele University, focused on the experience of place and the effect this may have on everyday wellbeing for those who stammer. Before this James completed his masters on a similar topic, looking into people who stammers' experience of the move to virtual communication methods during the Covid-19 pandemic. This research interest is driven by his own experience of stammering throughout his life and an aim to make society more inclusive towards dysfluent speakers.

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Jane is  the CEO of STAMMA. Before joining STAMMA she founded the organisation CALM  (Campaign Against Living Miserably).

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Joanne is an experienced public advisor on Barbara's PhD for stammering. Joanne has lived experience of stammering as a child and is keen to help research in this area. To help translate research into meaningful accessible data for anyone who benefits from the public to informing ongoing research.

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Joeri  is a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) and stuttering specialist from The  Netherlands. He owns a private practice, De Stotterpraktijk, specialised in  stuttering and cluttering. He is a person who stutters, a  RESTART-DCM-trainer, CESS-board member and ESS-teacher/coach. He co-founded  Stotterconnect, an organisation dedicated to Camp Dream. Speak. Live, and the  training of SLTs.

Josh is a doctor who qualified in 2018 after studying medicine at the University of Manchester, and has a stammer. His interest in social theory began when studying a Global Health BSc, culminating in a dissertation that explored the cultural limitations of modern psychiatry. Josh has gone on to develop an interest in therapy, exploring narrative-based and person-centred approaches in particular. He enjoys music in his spare time, playing around and manipulating sound.

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Katy is a final-year student completing a Master's degree in speech and language therapy at Leeds Beckett University.

Kristel is a person who stammers, and a speech and language therapist at the American Institute for Stuttering and in New York City public schools. She is very active with self-help organisations for people who stammer.

Kristel  is a passionate speech-language pathologist who stutters and who has cerebral  palsy. She works with clients who stutter in a school setting and in private  practice. She has presented workshops on stuttering affirming therapy  techniques nationally and internationally, published research on stuttering,  and has a chapter published in the book, 'Stammering Pride & Prejudice'.

Lesley is from Liverpool and has stammered all her life. She was a covert stammerer up to around 2010 when she attended the Durham Conference, which she said was "literally life-changing". Lesley started speech therapy as an adult and became involved in wanting to help others who stammer, especially given her job in adult education.  

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Liam McLaughlin is a dance artist from New York whose artistic practice roots itself in 'stutter/dancing', a movement exploration that weaves the embodied experience of stuttering into choreographic and pedagogical frameworks.

By utilising stuttering's unruliness, he aims to disrupt societal expectations around efficiency, communication and clarity that embed themselves into everyday life.

Luke is  an interdisciplinary artist and musician based in Portland, Oregon. As a  person who stutters, his practice is rooted in the rich terrain of speech  diversity. In collaboration with the nonprofit SPACE, he curates the Library  of Dysfluent Voices, an archive that reimagines stuttering as a generative,  expressive mode of communication.

Marilena  (they/them) says, “Attending my first stammering support group in 2019  propelled me into my stuttering acceptance journey. Since then I’ve  volunteered with STAMMA’s helpline and conducted research into the  neuroscience of stuttering at UCL’s Speech Lab. I also run in-person support  sessions for women and non-binary people who stammer in London".

Marin is the founder and CEO of the market research platform Peekator. He has been boxing for 14 years and is a former Croatian vice-champion. He also volunteers with the 'Entrepreneurs Who Stammer' network and at the Whitechapel Mission homeless shelter.

Melissa writes about contemporary experimental literature and poetry by women. As an extension of her interest in forms of self-representation and self-expression, she works with various communities on research projects that enable individuals to tell their stories in innovative and creative ways.

Michael  transformed his life through the Starfish Project, moving from speech  avoidance to advocacy. As a trustee for Empowering Voices, he helps others  ‘tame’ their stammers. Michael co-founded the STAMMA Nuclear Network and the  Stand Up to Stammering Facebook community, which empowers hundreds through  speaking challenges and supportive live videos.

Michelle is based in New York and teaches English as a second language. She has been stammering since she was 11 and has been actively involved in STAMMA/BSA for over a decade. Michelle has made many friends through the organisation, attending many events including Walk n’ Talks and open days, and she was part of the team that developed the STAMMA Facebook group.

Michelle's goal is to help people who stammer realise and accomplish their personal and professional objectives via making connections with others who stammer.

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Mike  runs an accountancy practice in Bristol with his two brothers, which has  helped hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses with their finances. As  a trustee of Empowering Voices, he is passionate about helping people who  stammer. In his spare time, he writes and performs electronic music.

Mike is a lifelong stammerer, inaugural member of the Action for Stammering Children youth panel and a cyber security/digital forensics specialist from Warrington.

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Mounah is the founder of 'Eloquence of Stuttering', the very first annual speech contest in France for people who stammer.

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Nic is a speech and language therapist and has been working with children and young people who stammer for over 20 years within the NHS. More recently, she has started working with adults who stammer. She is passionate about creating a world which makes space for, and better understands, stammering. She loves to work collaboratively with the people she works with to make this a possibility within her local area.

New York-based Pamela hosts the long-running blog 'Make Room For The Stuttering'. She also hosts and produces the podcast 'Women Who Stutter: Our Stories', created in 2010, for which she has interviewed women who stammer from all corners of the world.

Pamela  is from New York and hosts the long-running blog ‘Make Room For The  Stuttering’. She also hosts and produces a podcast exclusively for women  called ‘Women Who Stutter: Our Stories’, which she created in 2010. Pamela  has interviewed women who stutter from all corners of the world.

Patrick is a stammerer and junior doctor. He has an interest in how public and self-stigma intertwine to produce disability for people who stammer and how this debilitating process can be altered through seeing positive value in stammering.

Paul is a global HR leader and lifelong stammerer. After high school, he stopped all treatments trying to 'fix' him and his stammer. He refused to be defined by it and began his own journey to personal and professional success.

Pauline is a speech therapist in Bordeaux, France. She is part of the committee for the 'Eloquence de la Différence' speech contest, which she has also organised in her city since 2023.

Pauline says, "Eloquence de la Différence shows participants and others that no matter what difficulty you have, your words matter! It brings empowerment and confidence to this minority. It's a human adventure that I'm really proud to be part of".

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Penny is the Irish Stammering Association (ISA)'s Youth Development Officer and a speech and language therapist. She is also a founding member of ISA Bród Stadaireachta (Stammering Pride). As a late-discovered AuDHD ally, she enthusiastically and gently advocates for a neurodiversity affirmative world for all. She narrowly balances safe predictability with energising novelty and loves tea, cake, dogs, cats, sharks and gardening.

Ria is the CEO of Action for Stammering Children, the UK charity for children and young people who stammer, their families and the communities who support them.

Ria is a qualified speech & language therapist with a PhD in Psychology. Her doctoral research investigated the risk for anxiety and depression in children who do and do not stammer. She is currently an Honorary Lecturer in the Department of Experimental Psychology at University College London.

Richard is a person who stammers and a speech therapist working with Google's Research and particularly 'Project Relate'. Relate is an app that uses AI-driven automated speech recognition technology to better recognise how people speak, including people who stammer.

Dr Rob Grieve is an academic and former STAMMA Trustee. He is an advocate of the authentic approach to public speaking, central to his university lecturing role, self-management of his mild stammer and related public speaking fear. He leads public speaking workshops and has published on the topic.

Rob set up the Cambridge Self Help Group for Adults Who Stammer, one of the longest-running support groups in the country, in 2007. Even though the worst moments in his life were in English literature classes at school, he now teaches English as a second language.

Rob is a former STAMMA Trustee, Starfish Project alumni and once had a gun pulled on him in New Orleans by a cop because of his stammer. He's also a doting father of two teenagers, a traveller, cricketer, writer, wild swimmer and lover of good beer.

Robyn is a Professor at Cardiff Metropolitan University, having worked in Higher Education for 30 years. Robyn says, "I'm a life-long stammerer, which is something that's influenced my personal development and trajectory more than anything else".

Dr Ronan Miller has experience in several community initiatives and has been part of the 'Stutter Social' team since 2017. He completed his PhD in 2020 and has published research into stammering and foreign language learning and teaching. He now works at BeneTalk as content & community manager.

Rory is a London-based arts producer and person who stammers. He is passionate about social justice, equality and uses the visual arts as a platform to stimulate dialogue and exchange. Rory currently works for Mencap, who work with people with a learning disability.

Rutger is Chair-elect of the International Cluttering Association, and also chairs its Consumer Committee. He is also a Board member of the Dutch Stuttering Association and has served on the board of the International Stuttering Association.

In 2021, Rutger published a book about his experiences with cluttering with an accompanying website toofastforwords.com

Ruth has stammered from a very young age. She studied music and sang professionally for a few years before retraining as a chartered accountant. Later in life, Ruth changed careers once again and became a primary school teacher. She now accepts her stammer and has come to believe that people who stammer have a right to be heard.

Sam is a speech and language therapist, person-centred counsellor, supervisor and trainer (redefiningstammering.co.uk). She has a particular interest in disability studies, stammering activism and what stammering can teach us about ourselves and the world.

Sam is also an experienced facilitator with a background in healthcare, and co-edited the book 'Stammering Pride and Prejudice: Difference not Defect' in 2019.

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Sam is  a Speech and Language Therapist and stammering ally. She has a particular  interest in disability studies, stammering activism and what stammering can  teach us about ourselves and the world. She recently co-developed a  stammering-affirming framework for speech and language therapy practice,  culminating in the app 'Reflect'.

Sarah is a specialist therapist at the Michael Palin Centre. She works with children and their families to support them to be confident communicators whilst stammering. She has a particular interest in using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and in building confidence and resilience in children who stammer.

Shane  says, “Music gave me the voice that I previously found hard to find. Since  the age of 4, I have wanted to get across opinions and views verbally, but a  speech impediment prevented me from doing this. Stammering was a frustrating  daily occurrence. But with years of speech therapy appointments, I have been  able to significantly control my speech”.

Sharon  is a Speech and Language Therapist and person who stutters. She has been  involved in theatre from a young age, where creative practice shaped her  communication skills and reduced stuttering-related anxiety. In her master’s  degree, she investigates improvisation as a therapeutic approach for children  who stutter.

Sibon is a lawyer who is passionate about helping people understand their legal rights and seek justice when they've been discriminated against or treated unfairly. She is a member of the Women Who Stammers online support group and served as Trustee for STAMMA.

Sipho  is a West Midlands-based performance poet whose work blends experimental  spoken word with themes of heritage, identity and social justice. As a  workshop facilitator, he creates inclusive, youth-focused spaces that nurture  confidence, craft and creative expression across schools, communities and  arts organisations.

Stéphanie  is a French Speech and Language Therapist. She discovered improvisational  theatre during her studies at the University of Brussels. She is one of the  founders of ‘ImproTour’, a road trip through France and Switzerland, during  which she had fun offering improv workshops for people who stutter.

Tash  works in fundraising at a charity. She’s also set up an art workshop called  ‘My Happy Place’ and co-leads the STAMMA Young People’s Network. Tash says,  “Art is a great passion of mine and I love to see how people express  themselves differently when given the opportunity to do so”.