Stuttering is a speech impediment characterized by the inability to smoothly speak even when the person has something in their mind that they wish to say. It is classified as a developmental disorder. Stutters include things like repetition ("I f-f-feel" (repetition), prolongation ("I feellllllllllll") and delay ("I ... feel"). Many children begin to stutter when they are two to five years old. Eighty percent stop naturally but the remaining 20% continue to stutter. Stuttering is poorly understood. People who stutter are sometimes made fun of for their way of speaking or are told not to get nervous because they look nervous. Many people who stutter are emotionally hurt by people's lack of understanding or they become afraid to speak in front of others.

Stuttering is said to occur in one out of 100 people. Ms. Yuko Toda is the representative of Kitsuon Oyako Cafe, When her second son was in elementary school, he had hardly met anyone who stuttered. This made him believe that he was the only one who stuttered, and he felt isolated and lonely. Ms. Toda began to think about making a place where children who stutter can meet one another and their parents can share information and their concerns. She got to know another mother at the language class her second son attended. The mothers hit it off and held a cooking event in May 2011 as an opportunity for parents and children in similar circumstances to interact. It drew 20 people. Based on the success of the event, Ms. Toda and her likeminded friends set up the Kitsuon Oyako Caf? volunteer association in July 2011 with the goal of facilitating interactions between children who stutter and their families and to support them.

Kitsuon Oyako Cafe invites specialists to lecture and holds exchange meetings for children who stutter and their parents. In exchange meetings that are held three times a year at community centers and similar places, parents and children spend the morning doing recreational activities including cooking and sports. In the afternoon, participants are divided by age group (elementary school, junior high and high school and parents) and play games to learn about stuttering. They seek advice from people with more experience than them within their group regarding their anxiety about human relationships and the future, ask questions, and talk about their concerns and other thoughts. When face-to-face activities were limited during the COVID pandemic, they kept in touch in online meetings. A total of 31 meetings were held up to 2022. An average of 70 people attended each exchange meeting with the largest one drawing 100 people. There was a cumulative total of more than 2,500 participants. Currently, the organization has 11 core members including Ms. Toda who is the representative, parents of children who stutter, language class teachers and speech-language pathologists. Whenever they hold an event, they are joined by about 20 helpers.

Their awareness-raising activities include the creation of two leaflets, one for early childhood and the other for school age and adolescent children, from the perspective of people who stutter. The leaflets summarize information about the symptoms of stuttering and how to provide support. Some books on stuttering had previously been published, but only a very limited number of them. Incorrect information about stuttering is rampant on the Internet. The leaflets, intended for parents and teachers, share correct information about stuttering and tips for interacting with children who stutter. They have been distributed at medical institutions and schools for free. The leaflets drew a huge reaction and even received inquiries from outside the prefecture. Five thousand copies were printed at first, and this was followed by additional printings. To date, 170,000 copies of the fliers have been distributed. Currently, the leaflets can be ordered or downloaded on their website.

The children who were in elementary school when the organization started have begun searching for jobs. Job interviews are a tough test for them. The organization began creating leaflets to support these job seekers in 2022. Two leaflets, one for students and another for recruiters, will be completed shortly. The student leaflet includes older students sharing their experiences and a form for users to explain and write about their stuttering-related problems and the things they request of recruiters. It focuses on how to communicate information about stuttering from the perspective of people who stutter.

Information about stuttering is beginning to spread among concerned people, but is still poorly understood by the general public. Ms. Toda hopes to establish a society where stuttering is correctly understood and that everyone can speak about it without hesitation.

It is easy to see that the organization's activities encourage many children who stutter and their families. Many people still have biases and misunderstandings about stuttering. It does not appear that people's like understanding of stuttering has progressing satisfactorily. In this situation, the families of children who stutter talked to one another and acted. Their aggressiveness is very impressive. The organization is also excellently capable of making plans and coming up with ideas. In addition to holding many different gatherings, it engages in awareness-raising activities by creating leaflets in line with the growth of children growth and an unprecedented job hunting guide.