The Indian Stammering Association
Encyclopedia
The Indian Stammering Association (TISA) is a public charitable trust
and self-help
movement for people in India
who stammer
.
classification of stuttering (stammering), in the section "Mental and behavioural disorders", is F98.5, where the definition is given as "Speech that is characterized by frequent repetition or prolongation of sounds or syllables or words, or by frequent hesitations or pauses that disrupt the rhythmic flow of speech. It should be classified as a disorder only if its severity is such as to markedly disturb the fluency of speech." However, as there is a shortage of good speech therapists in India, speech therapy is highly expensive, and the government of India does not officially recognise the condition as a handicap.
TISA, which has no formal membership fees, offers free support and services to any person who stammers (PWS) for as long as it is needed. Many of its volunteers are alumni of self-help communication workshops. There are chapter leaders and facilitators of self-help groups in various cities, and at the core of the organisation is a board of three trustees who volunteer as honorary coordinator, fund-raiser and IT lead. TISA's funding comes mainly through individual contributions; communication workshops are financed by the participants and the facilitators claim no recompense.
Some members of the group met in person for the first time in Mumbai
on 13 April 2008. They decided to start a self-help association, to be named The Indian Stammering Association. TISA started a blog on 9 May 2008. This blog was the first Indian blog on stammering in open public internet space, unlike chat groups, which required registration and were open primarily to people who stammer.
There had been other parallel and/or preceding attempts by Indians to seek and offer help with stammering. Inspired by Keith Boss, a trustee of the British Stammering Association and board member of the International Stuttering Association
, a small group of Indians started a internet group. One Indian PWS contributed to International Stammering Awareness Day in 2006 and another attended the world congress in Croatia in 2007. A group in Chennai
had been meeting under the statute of Mahatma Gandhi on the Marina Beach from 2001. The Samagra Trust also helped TISA in its formative years, by publishing a booklet on stammering among other things.
The Indian Stammering Association launched its official website on 15 August 2009. It was formally registered as Public Charitable Trust Number 6055 on 13 November 2009. The trust's head office is located at Herbertpur
, Dehradun
, Uttarakhand
, India.
, Surat
, Jammu
, Herbertpur
, Goa
, Pune
, Delhi
, Chennai
, Dehradun
, Meerut, Hyderabad, Kolkata
, Chandigarh
, Jaipur
, and Ahmedabad
.
TISA's self-help communication workshops last from 3–10 days, depending on the participants' needs and availability of time. These workshops are based on Acceptance: Even though I stammer, I accept myself whole heartedly, because there is an inner perfection in me. Breathing techniques based on Pranayama
are introduced as an aid to relaxation and to a speech driven by belly breathing. Western techniques are also incorporated and the four techniques, adapted from a book by Peter Reitzes, among other sources. Accepting and serving other PWS is an important concluding theme in the workshop. Some participants have started their own self-help groups after the workshop.
and the censor board of India at Uttarakhand High Court. It objected to the film's portrayal of stammerers as objects of ridicule, on the grounds that this promoted discrimination and the teasing and bullying of people who stammer.
The film-makers and Censor Board
have to respond to the court notice by 14 December 2010. After that the court will hear this case.
Charitable trust
A charitable trust is an irrevocable trust established for charitable purposes, and is a more specific term than "charitable organization".-United States:...
and self-help
Self-help
Self-help, or self-improvement, is a self-guided improvement—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. There are many different self-help movements and each has its own focus, techniques, associated beliefs, proponents and in some cases, leaders...
movement for people in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
who stammer
Stuttering
Stuttering , also known as stammering , is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases, and involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the stutterer is unable to produce sounds...
.
Background
It is estimated that 11 to 12 million people in India stammer. Stammering is a physiological disorder. The World Health OrganizationWorld Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
classification of stuttering (stammering), in the section "Mental and behavioural disorders", is F98.5, where the definition is given as "Speech that is characterized by frequent repetition or prolongation of sounds or syllables or words, or by frequent hesitations or pauses that disrupt the rhythmic flow of speech. It should be classified as a disorder only if its severity is such as to markedly disturb the fluency of speech." However, as there is a shortage of good speech therapists in India, speech therapy is highly expensive, and the government of India does not officially recognise the condition as a handicap.
TISA, which has no formal membership fees, offers free support and services to any person who stammers (PWS) for as long as it is needed. Many of its volunteers are alumni of self-help communication workshops. There are chapter leaders and facilitators of self-help groups in various cities, and at the core of the organisation is a board of three trustees who volunteer as honorary coordinator, fund-raiser and IT lead. TISA's funding comes mainly through individual contributions; communication workshops are financed by the participants and the facilitators claim no recompense.
Formation
TISA grew out of a Yahoo group started on 3 April 2001 by an Indian PWS, Viren Gandhi. By late 2010 the group had 576 members, contributing almost 6000 posts on issues including speech therapy reviews, self-help ideas and emotional support.Some members of the group met in person for the first time in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
on 13 April 2008. They decided to start a self-help association, to be named The Indian Stammering Association. TISA started a blog on 9 May 2008. This blog was the first Indian blog on stammering in open public internet space, unlike chat groups, which required registration and were open primarily to people who stammer.
There had been other parallel and/or preceding attempts by Indians to seek and offer help with stammering. Inspired by Keith Boss, a trustee of the British Stammering Association and board member of the International Stuttering Association
International Stuttering Association
The International Stuttering Association is a nonprofit international support group organization for people who stutter. It was founded at the first ISA meeting in Linköping, Sweden, in July 1995....
, a small group of Indians started a internet group. One Indian PWS contributed to International Stammering Awareness Day in 2006 and another attended the world congress in Croatia in 2007. A group in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
had been meeting under the statute of Mahatma Gandhi on the Marina Beach from 2001. The Samagra Trust also helped TISA in its formative years, by publishing a booklet on stammering among other things.
The Indian Stammering Association launched its official website on 15 August 2009. It was formally registered as Public Charitable Trust Number 6055 on 13 November 2009. The trust's head office is located at Herbertpur
Herbertpur
Herbertpur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Dehradun district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.-Geography:Herbertpur is located at . It has an average elevation of 427 metres .-Demographics:...
, Dehradun
Dehradun district
There are five railway stations in Dehradun:* Raiwala* Rishikesh* Doiwala* Harrawala* DehradunAirport...
, Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
, India.
Activities
The trust has conducted self-help workshops, based on acceptance, breathing techniques and CALMS approach in various Indian cities. A model of the workshop is freely available on the internet. TISA promotes self-help groups in different cities, has made available a self-help manual that combines the modern approach to stammering with eastern concepts of self-acceptance, and produces a newsletter. TISA is also participating in genetic research in stammering in IndiaSelf-help groups
Groups are open to those taking speech therapy from any source, and are facilitated by a volunteer PWS. This facilitator offers the opportunity to practise communication skills in a group setting, offer and receive counseling, and gain information on techniques and therapists. TISA regards the optimum number of participants for a SHG to be no more than 12. There is no minimum number. Cities with TISA self-help groups include Banglore, MumbaiMumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, Surat
Surat
Surat , also known as Suryapur, is the commercial capital city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Surat is India's Eighth most populous city and Ninth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city proper...
, Jammu
Jammu
Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
, Herbertpur
Herbertpur
Herbertpur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Dehradun district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.-Geography:Herbertpur is located at . It has an average elevation of 427 metres .-Demographics:...
, Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
, Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, Dehradun
Dehradun
- Geography :The Dehradun district has various types of physical geography from Himalayan mountains to Plains. Raiwala is the lowest point at 315 meters above sea level, and the highest points are within the Tiuni hills, rising to 3700 m above sea level...
, Meerut, Hyderabad, Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, Chandigarh
Chandigarh
Chandigarh is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Haryana and Punjab. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name is from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddess Chandi, in the city...
, Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
, and Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
.
TISA's self-help communication workshops last from 3–10 days, depending on the participants' needs and availability of time. These workshops are based on Acceptance: Even though I stammer, I accept myself whole heartedly, because there is an inner perfection in me. Breathing techniques based on Pranayama
Pranayama
Pranayama is a Sanskrit word meaning "extension of the prana or breath" or more accurately, "extension of the life force". The word is composed of two Sanskrit words, Prāna, life force, or vital energy, particularly, the breath, and "āyāma", to extend, draw out, restrain, or...
are introduced as an aid to relaxation and to a speech driven by belly breathing. Western techniques are also incorporated and the four techniques, adapted from a book by Peter Reitzes, among other sources. Accepting and serving other PWS is an important concluding theme in the workshop. Some participants have started their own self-help groups after the workshop.
Advocacy
In October 2010 TISA filed a public interest writ petition against the director and producers of the film Golmaal 3Golmaal 3
Golmaal 3 is a 2010 Bollywood comedy film directed by Rohit Shetty. A sequel to the 2008 film Golmaal Returns, the project stars most of the actors from the previous film, including Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor and Shreyas Talpade. New additions to the cast include...
and the censor board of India at Uttarakhand High Court. It objected to the film's portrayal of stammerers as objects of ridicule, on the grounds that this promoted discrimination and the teasing and bullying of people who stammer.
The film-makers and Censor Board
Central Board of Film Certification
The Central Board of Film Certification is a Government of India regulatory body and censorship board of India controlled by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It reviews, rates and censors motion pictures, television shows, television ads, and promotional material...
have to respond to the court notice by 14 December 2010. After that the court will hear this case.
Philosophy
TISA philosophy consists of two precepts:- "Accept stammering but do not accept poor communication". It is based on the fact that the neuro-biological basis for stammering has been demonstrated through brain studies; the search for a "cure" may be futile but communication is a skill beyond fluency and can be worked at by anyone.
- "Serving others unselfishly puts us in touch with our larger Self, which is the source of genuine communication and fulfillment".
See also
- International Stuttering Awareness DayInternational Stuttering Awareness Day22 October was designated International Stuttering Awareness Day in 1998. The day is intended to raise the public awareness of the millions of people who have the speech disorder of stuttering, including over 3 million Americans....
- European League of Stuttering AssociationsEuropean League of Stuttering AssociationsThe European League of Stuttering Associations was set up in 1990 by 12 countries to promote a greater knowledge and understanding of stuttering and to bring together, as a top umbrella Organisation, the National Stuttering Self-Help Organisations of Europe...
- British Stammering AssociationBritish Stammering AssociationThe British Stammering Association , a charity since 1978, is a national membership organisation in the United Kingdom for adults and children who stammer...
- Israel Stuttering Association (AMBI)Israel Stuttering Association (AMBI)AMBI, Israel Stuttering Association, a charity since 1999, is a public non-profit organization that supports people who stutter and their families in Israel...
- United States Stuttering AssociationNational Stuttering AssociationThe National Stuttering Association is a United States support group organization for people who stutter. Its headquarters are in New York City....
- Cultural references to stutteringCultural references to stutteringCultural references to stuttering are featured in the media, popular culture and in society at large. Because of the unusual-sounding speech that is produced, as well as the behaviors and attitudes that accompany a stutter, stuttering has been a subject of scientific interest, curiosity,...
- Stuttering therapyStuttering therapyStuttering therapy is any of the various treatment methods that attempt to reduce stuttering to some degree in an individual. Stuttering can be a challenge to treat because there is a lack of evidence-based consensus about therapy...
- Anti-stuttering devices
- Wiki book on Stuttering