Masuhiko was a member of the ISA Board from 2014 to 2015, and has previously been on the Board of Directors, elected in 2007.
I am Vice Chair of the Japan Stuttering Project. I studied social welfare at university, especially welfare for the disabled. I was a leader of a volunteer group for mentally challenged children like autism and developmental disorder for 20 years. I am also a President of a company in Osaka, Japan.
I started stuttering before entering elementary school. For more than 30 years, I avoided situations that involved speaking. I denied not only stuttering but also myself. Of course I couldn’t work to my satisfaction. Now I know at that time, the problem was that I couldn’t stutter at all! Since I joined the JSP, my attitude towards stuttering has changed. Now I can stutter. I do not find the need to hide my stuttering. I feel free to challenge anything that I want. Stuttering no longer interferes with my life. Through getting involved with the activities of the JSP I discovered meaningfulness in my life and learned ways to live positively, even with stuttering.