Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to recognize International Stuttering Awareness Day, which takes place tomorrow. In supporting this awareness, I’d also like to recognize a former constituent, Ms. Karen Hollett, who is with us in the gallery today, who recently published a book about a young girl who stutters. A heart-warming story, Hooray for Aiden, was written by Ms. Hollett, who knows firsthand how challenging life can be for a young person who stutters. It is an excellent book that shows how a young grade 2 student named Aiden overcomes her fear of speaking in class and about how people who stutter can be anything they want to be.
Mr. Speaker, stuttering affects 5 percent of young children during the years they’re learning to speak. Often this disability has negative consequences on a person’s self-confidence and self-acceptance. But there are effective treatments for both children and adults. Typically, the earlier a child gets help, the better the outcome. There are many resources out there, Mr. Speaker, for parents, educators and school counsellors who work with children or adults who stutter. The Canadian Stuttering Association has an excellent website at stutter.ca, and Ms. Hollett has a great website at hooraypublishing.com.
Stuttering, Mr. Speaker, is a disability that doesn’t get talked about very much, but it can have a devastating effect on school children who are teased by their peers. Hooray for Aiden is a book that belongs in all school libraries across our Territory. As a teaching tool it will inspire a child who stutters or perhaps has another disability, and will educate children who don’t.
Mr. Speaker, I highly recommend the book and encourage all Members to read it and to share it with young people in their communities, and that the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment look at putting a copy of Hooray for Aiden in each and every school across our Territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.