This congess, organised for the Internation Stuttering Association ISA, is the only Worldwide event on the field of stuttering organised by people who stutter FOR people who stutter! Imagine beeing in a place where you meet people from the other side of the World with who you can exchanges experiences, feelings, laughs and tears. During the congress presentations and workshops will be held by professionals, but also much of them are held by people who stutter themselves. Participating in workshops, discussions and presentations offered by people who struggle with the same problems like you do, encouriges people to do the same thing. Perhaps in a smaller form, but it really gives a boost to some peoples life.
Also, due to participating an event like this, you gain a lot of knowledge and not to forget FRIENDS! It's a congress, but also a big social event.
Yes, you will fit in for sure. There will be around 500 people who stutter during the congress. Some with a group from their own country, some on their own. Experiences from the past prove that every person will fit in somewhere. It's not for nothing they call people who stutter sensitive persons, it's because they care about each-other and that is clearly visible during these congresses. Friends for live and even relationships are the result of events like this. So, don't be afraid to not fit in ;)
We are counting on about 350 people from all over the world during the whole congress. Next to this we expect about 150 people from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to participate for one or two days. So a total amount of 500 persons is what we are expecting.
Probably this will not be necessary since new people will merge in the crowd, but we could organise a small first-timers event in the beginning of the congress.
To participate in the congress it's not a condition to be member of your National Stuttering Association. Although we'd like to encourage people to become member of their NSA beacause of the good cause they stand for.
The congress will be organised in congress centre 'De Werelt' in a small town called Lunteren. It's a small town in the geographical center of The Netherlands and easy accessable by train or auto.
It will start on Monday 10th until Thursday 13th of June. Prior to the congress will be the annual meeting of the International Stuttering Association ISA held on Sunday 9th of June.
The complete congress will be three and a half day in total, starts on Monday morning and ends at Thursday in the afternoon. On Tuesday after lunchtime there is no program scheduled and a social event will be offered.
The money you spend on the congress depends on a lot of personal circumstances. Where you come from, where you sleep and where you eat. You can make is as expansive as you want, but there are also solutions for people with a lower budget. There's accommodation available from luxury hotels until camp-sites, which can make a big difference in total costs. Also breakfast and dinner is not included in the congress fee. There are several different types of congress-fee available. depending on the kind of participation, and booking date. More information can be found on the registration page on this website
A complete registration form is available on this website. On this form it is possible to choose which days you'd like to participate, if you which to attend the social event and gala-diner and there will be a system to book your room in the congress-centre. There are also budget accomodations available. Information about those can be found on the accomodation page on this site, but cannot be booked through the system.
Registration prior to 1st of March 2013 can save you money since there is an early bird discount.
The Netherlands has Amsterdam airport (Schiphol), one of the biggest international airports of Europe and is reachable from many direction through direct flights. Next to this huge one, there are a few smaller airports (Eindhoven and Dusseldorf Weeze) not more then 100km from the congress location offering mostly budget flight from all over Europe.
Lunteren is very good accessible by train and auto. From Amsterdam Airport there is an nearly direct connection to Lunteren Station. From Eindhoven and Dusseldorf Weeze a bus, car or taxi is needed to get to Lunteren or to trainstation.
In the Netherlands you are only allowed to enter the trains with a valid train ticket. Tickets can be bought at every trainstation through (mulit-language) ticket-machines or at the desk. The price for a train-ticket from Amsterdam Airport to Lunteren is € 13,- (rates of may 2012 for a 2nd class ticket). Seats cannot be reserved in the trains and during rush hour the trains can be crowded. You need to buy a single-trip ticket since return tickets are not available for more days.
The congress venue has over 100 rooms available. Most of these rooms are 2-person rooms with two single beds. Close to the congress-venue there are two more hotels with rooms available. In total these three location should be enough for all participants to stay.
Not far from the congress-venue, there's also a holiday-park where people could rent a bungalow for bigger groups. Also camp-sites are available in the surroundings.
It will be possible to book a room in the congress-venue during registration. Information about the other possibilities can be found on the website. Bookings for these will be on private basis.
Since most rooms available will be double-rooms, it might be good to share a room with someone else. You could try to find someone from your own country by checking at your National Stuttering Association who is participating or find a room-mate through the meeting-point on this website.
If you wish to book a room at the congress-centre, it's possible to book a 2-persons room. Only one person should make this reservation during registration. It's possible to enter the other participants namen there. Costs for this needs to divided by the participants.
There is a call for abstracts available on the website where people can apply for organising workshops. There is a commission who will select the workshops which fit in best for the theme. A list of scheduled workshops and presentations will be available prior to the congress.
A abstracts submission form is available on this website. There is a commission who will select the presentations which fit in best for the theme. A list of scheduled workshops and presentations will be available prior to the congress.
In our program-shedule there are blocks of 45 minutes for each workshop or presentation. On special request it's possible to get the double amount of time, so 1,5 hours in total. Be aware question-time is included in these blocks.
The congress-venue is located in the middle of a forest and close to our biggest National park "De Veluwe".
It's great to walk or cycle around in the area and smell the fine air of the trees, sit around on a terras around the venue or in town or visit a city nearby. By train it's not far to visit Ede, Arnhem or Utrecht.
Sure they are welcome. The congress is organised by people who stutter and focussed on people who stutter, but we'd love to have SLP's, researchers and students as participants. We all need each-other to move forward with this problem and what better moment then this congress to communicate with each-other. Students SLP will be able to learn more about some aspects during this congress then during their whole study :)
On Tuesday, there will be a special full-day program organised for therapists and student therapists. This program will be led by David Shapiro and Jan Bouwen. More information about this special program can be found on our website
The group of people who are responsible for the organisation of this congress got enthusiast on the field of stuttering and involved at their National Association due to Youth Meetings organised by ELSA, the European League of Stuttering Association. One of the organisers is board member of ELSA and active in organising these youth meetings. There will be special events organised for young people who are participating, mostly exchanging thoughts and feelings and discussions about how the youth can make a difference.
Please check out the information in the "TOURIST INFO" section on this website. More information can be found on www.holland.com, the tourism site of The Netherlands
