Great lively discussion again this week!
One member has had notable improvements in his fluency since recently starting with individual therapy. He is using downshifts, voluntary stuttering, cancellations and “pre-downshifts” which he compared to downshifting on a mountain bike before going up the hill to make the transition easier.
Another great analogy of his was “catch and release” as a visual for easing out of the word. Because these terms for unfamiliar to some, we talked about the different vocabulary that people have used for different techniques. Another member uses the word “pull-out” instead of downshifts and another uses “easy start” in place of pre-downshifts.
Importantly, this member also mentioned that he felt reaching a certain amount of self-acceptance of his stuttering was important to really be able to use and put his strategies out there successfully to help manage his fluency. Starting only with the strategies would not have been as effective without first being “ok” with being a person who stutters.
One member announced a personal goal to do some voluntary stuttering on at least 5 /s/ sounds during the meeting, which she easily accomplished and went above and beyond!
We discussed possible ways for us to celebrate International stuttering awareness day (Oct 22) with the possibility of approaching Ben & Jerry’s to give out free ice cream on that day, or during stuttering awareness week in May.
Barry suggested we could also come dressed in this SFA t-shirt below about stuttering after a member suggested we flash mob a business. More ideas welcome!
Otherwise, we’re excited for all the candy that comes with Halloween and we’ll have a special guest, Malisa Garlieb, to read some of her poems about stuttering from her book at the next group on Nov. 4 — see you then!