Rich Stephens, a person who stutters, is the President of SAY: Australia, the first international arm of SAY: The Stuttering Association For The Young founded in America/NYC in 2001 by Taro Alexander. Rich and Vice-President Dr. Elaina Kefalianos launched SAY: Australia in Melbourne in June 2019. For International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD) 2019, Rich and Elaina truly brought Australia’s attention to stuttering.
Rich says “22nd October is always an important time of year for the global stuttering community. For one day of the year a ‘bright light of awareness’ is shone on stuttering. ISAD helps to educate the world about stuttering, helps to correct many misconceptions about stuttering and also lets people who stutter know that they are not alone.
During previous ISAD’s many stuttering organisations and support groups spread stuttering awareness by holding conferences, educational seminars, and social gatherings. Rich says “I had also read about the odd city showing their support for ISAD by lighting-up one or two landmarks in the international colour of stuttering (sae-green) for the evening. And that idea planted a seed in my head. I did not just want to light one or two landmarks in Melbourne……I wanted to reach every Australian, those who stutter and those who don’t, by lighting-up Australia!”
 |
| Bolte brigde |
Rich began contacting landmarks in Melbourne and in other cities across Australia, such as Sydney, Perth, Queensland, Adelaide, and Darwin. Rich says, “I remember sending the first email to one of the most famous sports stadiums in Australia, the MCG, asking if they could support ISAD 2019 by lighting-up sea-green. I thought 100% they would say no! But when they responded with a resounding yes, I had the confidence to reach out to landmarks across Australia……and I kept on receiving yes’s! It was unbelievable! We had Sports stadiums, town halls, bridges, hotels, casinos, museums, etc. across all the major Australian cities! And all the while my main thought was how inspiring the night was going to be for so many people who stutter knowing that there country supports them. See the amazing pictures of buildings lit up in sea-green below the text.
On the evening of ISAD 2019, Rich showcased the Australian premiere of ‘My Beautiful Stutter’, an award-winning documentary by Ryan Gielen, which follows 5 young people who stutter from different cities across America and their life-changing involvement in SAY’s creative programs and Camp SAY. After the documentary, Rich and Elaina led the audience, involving two young people involved in SAY: Australia programs, on a tour of the lit-up Melbourne landmarks. Rich says. “Melbourne looked such a beautiful sea-green! The premiere was a huge success! The audience were already feeling warm in their hearts and inspired to spread awareness of stuttering after the movie, but seeing the city lit-up was inspiring to a whole new level! Australia, particularly Melbourne, really did do the stuttering community, here and across the world, proud on ISAD 2019! For ISAD 2020, we’ll try and double the number of landmarks so we can spread awareness of stuttering even further!
 |
| My Beautiful Stutter |
 | ||||||
Telstra tower
Melbourne skyline
|
Ingen kommentarer:
Legg inn en kommentar