The European League of Stuttering Associations (ELSA) 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. The Current executive board consists of Edwin Farr MBE (Chair), Anita Blom (Vice-Chair), Konrad Schäfers, and Gina Waggott (Youth).
ELSA is a trans-national, cross-cultural Organisation. It seeks resources only open to multi-national groups, extends the exchange-of-information network, and lobbies for stutterers at a prominent international level.
Its main roles are:
- to link together and further the co-operation of Europe's national organisations.
- to provide a forum for exchange of concepts and experiences in stuttering therapy and self-help.
- to help represent the interests of stutterers to European and international bodies.
- to put stuttering onto the European agenda to ensure that the needs and challenges faced by people who stutter are considered in a European context.
ELSA's work has been recognised by the International Labour Office in Geneva, the World Health Organisation in Geneva and the United Nations Office in Vienna. ELSA is also a founding member of the European Disability Forum, an umbrella disability organisation based in Brussels.
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