Foundation Marks 2020 Stammering Awareness Day In Nigeria

Nigeria has joined the rest of the world to mark the International Stammering Awareness Day 2020, which is celebrated on October 22 every year to increase awareness about speech disorder.

At least 70 million people worldwide are said to be living with stammering disorder, with recent research suggesting that 8% of children will stammer at some point, and approximately 1% will continue to stammer into adulthood.

Mrs Juliana Imam, founder of Stammer Foundation, organizers of the ISAD 2020 celebration in Nigeria, said in a statement on Thursday that this year’s celebration, “was indeed insightful and interesting, as people who stammer came together online to celebrate themselves and to enlighten society on the importance of building an inclusive education and employment culture in our society.”

The event held virtually in compliance with recommended protocols to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

It was themed, ““Creating an inclusive education and employment culture for the most vulnerable in our society”

Those in attendance included Mr. Jake Epelle, the founder of The Albino Foundation who gave the keynote address, Rose Ekaete Mordi Founder/ President, Down syndrome Foundation Nigeria, Nneamaka F. Mokwe-Ijiko Founder of Inclusive Education Global Foundation, Hauwau Abdullahi, representative of the Ministry of Labor, Juliana Imam founder Stammer Foundation, Omei Bongos-Ikwue(moderator), several speech therapists, students and people who stammer.

Imam said, “The theme for this year’s (2020) celebration was creating an inclusive education and employment culture for the most vulnerable in our society. People with either intellectual or developmental disabilities were encouraged to love themselves, stay confident, and also be excellent at what they do to the best of their ability. Also, employers were encouraged to actively make provisions to employ people with disabilities and make adequate provisions to ease their workflow. Those in the education sector were advised to intentionally look into the adjustment of the curriculum, the number of students in the class, re-training of teachers, and bullying issues as these are some issues people with disability face.”

Stammer Foundation, a non-profit organisation registered in Nigeria, helps people with speech impediment to understand and accept their uniqueness and value, so they can confidently and competently live and lead.

The foundation said its vision was to have an inclusive society with equality, equity and economic empowerment for persons with speech impediment. It said its mission was to support and empower people with speech impairment through training, therapy, advocacy, welfare and to raise awareness in Nigeria and the world.