Yesterday was a remarkable day for the Dallas stuttering community. Want to know why? This is our recap.

The day started early for a small number of us, as we were invited by Professor Jyutika Mehta from TWU, to take part in an interactive class and Q&A with students from all over the state– and we mean all over the state, from Houston to El Paso and from Corpus Christi to Lubbock, to discuss stuttering! We met at the Region 10 Service Center in Richardson, where Professor Mehta teaches her class. The room is equipped with a whole array of cameras and microphones, and thanks to the power of the internet,120+ students, divided in 20 regions within Texas, were able to chime in questions and be part of the conversation.

This is part of NSA’s mission to help spread our love and understanding of stuttering all over the world and it’s always so much fun for everybody involved. Thanks to our panelists!

And then on to our monthly meeting!

With 13 people in attendance, including one new face (welcome Alex!), a significant other (nice meeting you Julie!), and one SLP (thanks for your support Mary Irene!) we were ready to have one last meeting before the big conference that’s coming up in ONE week.

Our icebreaker question of the day was something that really got everyone thinking. We asked “If you could communicate with any other species, which one would you choose and why?”. Some of the answers were:

  • Fish, “because they swim!”
  • Elephants, “I’m curious about their memory”
  • Worms, “how does it feel to know birds are trying to eat you?”
  • Ants,”to go into tiny places”
  • Lions, “just because they are cool”, and
  • Cats, “want to know why my cat is mean to me”… which apparently is a common thing, as it was mentioned more than once.

Moving on! A few announcements:

  1. Our Chat n’ Chew was a refreshing affair  at the Fraternal Order of Eagles–thanks everybody!
  2. Our Spotlight of the Month was the amazing Bryan Baker (check his spotlight HERE)
  3. The Conference is ONE week away! Have you packed? Plane tickets ready? Don’t forget your toothbrush! See you there!

And then we got to our topic of the month, “I’ve always wanted to talk about….”

A big part of the struggles that come with stuttering could be encapsulated with the phrase “I wanted to say….”, but never saying it, or not being part of conversations you wanted to be part of. So for this month we decided to just open the floor to everybody’s ideas and questions, and we did it in a fun, game-like way. First, we gave everybody a card to write one or two ideas/questions. Second, we collected all the cards and shuffled them. Finally, a person in the room, at random, would pick one of the bunch…. and we got to it!

What’s your favorite movie or TV show? What do you think of people that offer cures for stuttering? What are your pet peeves? How do you stay positive when stuttering is so frustrating?  What is the scariest (or worst) movie you have ever seen? … were just some of the few questions we had, and it really was a blast!

Our chapter meetings are more than just a place to find support, they are also a safe space to have a conversation freely, and this meeting was one of those occasions were everybody wanted to be part of, and THAT is what we call a success!

See you in July!

Dallas NSA