Aidan Greene is an award winning Irish comedian. He has just returned from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where he performed ‘Aidan Greene: Stop! Stammer Time!” .  Aidan’s artistic practice as a comedian who happens to stammer, is a brilliant example of how incidental representation of stammered speech in any sphere especially in the arts, instigates change. We are delighted that Aidan will speak to us about his own experience as a person who stammers and he will join in the panel discussion. You can find out more about Aidan here https://www.aidangreenecomedy.com/  

Maria Stuart is Assistant Professor, School of English, Drama and Film at University College Dublin. As a person who stammers, Maria has a special interest in how stammering is represented and understood in literature, culture and creative practice. Among her many academic, publishing achievements, she was the Principal Investigator for the collaborative Wellcome-funded project ‘Metaphoric Stammers and Embodied Speakers: Connecting Clinical, Cultural and Creative Practice in Dysfluent Speech’2014'.

Maria is a contributor to "The Stammering Collective" a website which documents the flow and exchange of ideas shared during a series of workshops in 2021. https://www.thestammeringcollective.org/contributor/maria-stuart

Stephen Greene, who is a board member of the Irish Stammering Association is a stuttering advocate whose passion is being a voice in the community that creates a space where stuttering is understood and affirmed’.  Among his many initiatives, Stephen runs the ISA ‘Speaker Series’ https://www.stammeringireland.ie/resources/speaker-series

 
He has a social media account  “The Stutterverse” where he uses the medium of poetry to narrate an inspiring  personal journey as a person who stammers and instigate change. https://www.instagram.com/the_stutterverse/ 

Conor Foran, is an Irish artist and designer based in London.

He co-runs a socially-engaged design practice called Take Courage with his partner Bart Rzeznik.  Through his creative practice Dysfluent he explores how disability intersects with creativity and how art and design can instigate social change.

Among his many initiatives, Conor designed the stammering font which is used by the ISA in its communications, he publishes ‘Dysfluent’ a magazine which provides articles from stammering advocates across many spheres, he designed the Stammering Pride Flag in collaboration with others. Conor is a founder and designer of the ‘Stammering Collective’. https://www.thestammeringcollective.org/

Christopher Constantino lives in Tallahassee with his wife, Megan, and sons, Augustine and Sebastian. He is a speech-language pathologist and assistant professor at Florida State University. He works clinically with people who stutter, teaches classes on stuttering and counselling, and researches ways to improve the experience of stuttering.

Among his many initiatives, he co-edited the book Stammering Pride & Prejudice. 
Chris who is a person who stammers himself, is a much-sought-after speaker and educator by those in the SLT community who wish to expand their understanding and practice in relation to stammer affirmative approaches to therapy.  His empathy and understanding of the experience of stammering, his wholistic approach which supports those who stammer in strengthening their identity as a person who stammers, and his practical strategies on how to stammer with less struggle and speak with more joy and spontaneity are both  inspiring and encouraging for the stammering community and SLTS. *Please note Christopher will be joining us on screen from Florida State University.