MINUTES OF THE ISA MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Commencing at 10AM
Koh-Lanta Bar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Meeting Call to Order
ISA Chair Michael Sugarman called the meeting to order at 10:05 AM and welcomed the delegates and guests.
Michael read a message from Shinji Ito, Executive Director of the Japan Stuttering Project. In addition he wished Suzana Jelcic Jaksic from Croatia a “Happy Birthday”.
Thirty-five people attended the meeting and the following ISA voting members were present:
| Sanjay Kumar Jha | Napal Stut. Assoc. | Napal |
| Hermann Christmann | FSD-Assoc. for Stut. | Denmark |
| Anne Marie Simon | APB | France |
| Moussa Dao | ABC Acion Conre | Burkina Faso |
| Keith Boss | BSA | UK |
| Mel Hoffman | NSA | USA |
| Michael Sugarman | Friends | USA |
| Proxy Vote | Japan Stut. Project | Japan |
| Thomas Krall | German Stut. Assoc. | Germany |
| Obim Okongwu | CSA | Canada |
| Sveinn Snaer | Mabjurg ICE S.A. | South Africa |
| Anita Blom | Swedish Stut. Assoc. | Sweden |
| Richard Bourgondien | Demosthenes | Netherlands |
| Hideyuke Oka | Genyukai | Japan |
| Suzana Jelcic Jaksic | Udruga Hinko Freund | Croatia |
| Pedro Rodriguez | Assoc. Iberoamericana | Venezuela |
| Adolfo Sanchez | Funcion Espanos | Spain |
Michael reminded the whole group that one vote is obtained from each ISA Member Association that is present. Michael had the proxy vote for the Japan Stuttering Project.
Michael opened a discussion of what ISA should do in the future for GOALS and ACTIONS.
The following are some of the SUGGESTIONS:
- Thomas Krall from Germany presented 5 Motions concerning ISA leadership. These Motions were his ideas and were NOT supported by the GSA.
- Michael Sugarman from the USA presented the ISAD (International Stuttering Awareness Day) Poster and Theme. He encouraged use of the internet to download clips from the KING’S SPEECH for students to use in education about stuttering.
- Anne Marie Simon from France talked about producing 250,000 DVDs about the KING’S SPEECH to increase public awareness about stuttering.
- Anita Blom from Sweden talked about “young people who stutter” having a store to sell products about stuttering for public awareness.
- Pedro Rodriguez from Venezuela asked that more materials about stuttering be translated into Spanish.
- Anne Marie Simon from France and Keith Boss from the UK suggested that the materials about stuttering be translated into many languages using World Press and a library be created on the ISA Website.
- Thomas Krall from Germany demanded time to talk about Draft 5 of the ISA 10 Recommendations concerning changes to the ISA Constitution. Michael reminded everyone that these 10 Recommendations are posted on the ISA Website and any changes need to be done through the ISA Board. Thomas was given 10 minutes to present but he did not use this time.
10 Minute Break
Michael opened the meeting for QUESTIONS and ANSWERS and COMMENTS
The following are some of the comments:
- Obim Okongwu asked “How can CSA help the ISA ?” Michael responded that ISA is a volunteer organization and people need to donate their time and skills.
- Anne Marie Simon asked how the ISA Constitution Bylaws can be changed. The response was to present proposals to the ISA Constitution Committee. Michael reminded the group that this procedure has been written in the April E-News Flash. Mel Hoffman added that new bylaws can be written by the ISA Constitution Committee and then presented to the ISA Board and Advisory Board and finally to the ISA Membership for a vote.
- Anita Blom commented that it is very important to check the ISA website for NEWS.
- Guobjorg Asa Jons-Huldudottir asked for better connections between ISA member websites using links.
- Ed Feur asked that ISA work on “flawed research”, job discrimination, monitoring speech therapy, and outreach.
- Adolfo Sanchez asked that ISA focus on People Who Stutter and not all the politics of the organization.
- Suzana Jelcic Jaksic said that education and awareness are most important and using the internet is best. She reminded the group that ISA is an umbrella association.
- Mel Hoffman commented that ISA needs to focus on helping People Who Stutter.
- Anita Blom asked that the ISA Board and the ELSA Board work together to influence SLPs and local meetings. She said the KING’S SPEECH has been most important and everybody can do something to change the world’s perception of stuttering.
- Adolfo Sanchez announced that Spain would like to host the ISA Meeting/World Congress in 2013.
Thomas Krall was given 15 minutes to present his information. He did not use this time.
12:00- 1:30 PM Lunch Break
Thomas Krall was given time to present his information. He talked about his “Negative List of the Four Persons in the ISA Board 2010-2011”. Matias Duca, Congress Secretary, interjected and stopped Thomas’s presentation.
Michael initiated two presentations by ISA Member Organizations who want to host the ISA Meeting/World Congress in 2013. Adolfo Sanchez presented from Spain and Maartje Borghuis presented from the Netherlands. The vote was 13-3 in favor of the Netherlands hosting the 2013 ISA Meeting/World Congress.
Michael encouraged people to present some of their thoughts about SELF-HELP. The following are some of the comments:
- Helping ourselves.
- Helping others.
- Help others to communicate with people who stutter.
- Self-help groups need to have special activities.
- Why are groups so small? PWS come and expect speech therapy and/or a pink pill to cure their stuttering.
- Self-help groups need to give information to speech therapists.
- Self-help groups need to work at changing laws to protect people who stutter.
- Self-help groups need to work through the schools and introduce self-help.
ISA Treasurer’s Report
Hermann Christmann reported using a computer presentation. He reported that gross income occurs from dues of ISA Member Associations and Donations. The ISA Treasurer’s Report was unanimously accepted by the voting membership.
The ISA Board Minutes from 2007 were unanimously accepted by the voting membership.
Michael asked people to present ideas that could be GOALS of ISA. The following are some of the comments:
- Outreach.
- Independent (third party) assessment of speech therapy programs.
- Approach to WHO.
- Set up groups which focus on fund raising.
- Encourage people to donate time and skills to ISA.
Election of the New ISA Board of Directors
Four members of the current ISA Board of Director will stand for re-election. They are Joseph Lukong, Keith Boss, Michael Sugarman, and Moussa Dao.
Three additional candidates were presented in the May 2011 E-Newflash and the handout at the ISA Membership Meeting. They are Peter Dhu, Yoichi Tsutsumino, and Maartje Borghuis.
From the floor, Thomas Krall nominated himself, Pedro Rodriguez, and Adolfo Sanchez.
16 Ballots were returned to the ISA Acting Secretary. The majority of the votes were given to Michael Sugarman, Keith Boss, Moussa Dao, Joseph Lukong, Peter Dhu, Yoichi Tsutsumino, and Maartje Borghuis. Three additional votes were collected as follows: Thomas Krall-l, Pedro Rodriguez-1, and Adolfo Sanchez-1.
The new ISA Board will be composed of 7 members as follows:
Michael Sugarman, USA; Keith Boss, UK; Moussa Dao, Burkina Faso; Joseph Lukong, Cameroon; Peter Dhu, Australia; Yoichi Tsutsumino, Japan; and Maartje Borghuis, Netherlands.
The ISA 2011 Business Meeting was adjourned at 4:35 PM.
Judith Eckardt
ISA Acting Secretary for Joseph Lukong
Mel Hoffman, Recorder
Addendum: Michael Sugarman was elected to be ISA Chairman on 5/18/2011 by the New Board of ISA Directors.