From 2010 to 2022, five meetings of the Croatia Clinical Symposia were held where clinicians, scholars, and researchers gathered to share knowledge and engage in lively discussions with one another. Formal small and large group discussions were facilitated by charismatic discussion leaders and moderators.
Commencing as an initiative of Suzana Jelčić Jakšić and the late Dave Rowley, subsequent convenors included Robyn Lowe and Mark Onslow. In the COVID-19 era, the last of these meetings in 2022 was held online. The productivity of the Croatia meetings is shown by the collection of peer reviewed publications and book chapters that emerged from them (see below). But more importantly, many lasting professional and personal friendships were forged during those years.
A drawcard of our symposia was the delightful location of the Hotel Croatia, on a peninsula overlooking the Adriatic Sea on one side and the ancient Roman town of Cavtat on the other.
Symposia publications
First Croatia Symposium, 22–26 May, 2010
Jelčić Jakšić, S., & Onslow, M. (2012). The science and practice of stuttering treatment: A symposium. West Sussex, England: Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118702796
Third Croatia Symposium, 2–5 October, 2016
Onslow, M., Lowe, R., & Jelčić Jakšić, S. (Eds.). (2017). Applications of stuttering treatment research: Proceedings of the Third Croatian Symposium. (PDF, 39.9MB)
Fourth Croatia Symposium, 19–22 May, 2019
Lowe, R., Jelčić Jakšić, S., Onslow, M., O'Brian, S., Vanryckeghem, M., Millard, S., Kelman, E., Block, S., Franken, M. -C., Van Eerdenbrugh, S., Menzies, R., Shenker, R., Byrd, C., Bosshardt, H. -G., del Gado, F., & Lim, V. (2021). Contemporary issues with stuttering: The Fourth Croatia Stuttering Symposium, Journal of Fluency Disorders, 70, Article 105844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2021.105844
Fifth Croatia Symposium, 5–19 October, 2022
Onslow, M., Lowe, R., Jelčić Jakšić, S., Bernstein Ratner, N., Chmela, K., Lim, V., Sheedy. S. (2024). The Fifth Croatia Stuttering Symposium: Part I. Treatments for early stuttering. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 79, Article 106022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2023.106022
Onslow, M., Lowe, R., Jelčić Jakšić, S., Packman, A., Kelly, E., MacMillan, V., & Hodes, G. (2023). The Fifth Croatia Stuttering Symposium: Part II. Natural recovery from early stuttering. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 78, Article 106018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2023.106018
Onslow, M., Lowe, R., Jelčić Jakšić, S., Franken, M. -C., Hearne, A., Uijterlinde, I., & Eggers, K. (2023). The Fifth Croatia Stuttering Symposium: Part III. Mental health and early stuttering. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 77, Article 106000. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2023.106000