Chapter Meeting – April 2, 2015

We had three new attendees at this meeting.  Faith, a teenage girl, and her parents Nicole and Richard. Jim also come to the meeting.  Faith is going to therapy and doing her best dealing with her stuttering. She told us about some of her experiences in school.  Her teachers are supportive and her school mates seem to be understanding.  Nevertheless, she doesn’t feel comfortable in speaking situations.  Jim and I shared our stories with them, our different ways of approaching our own stuttering and be positive about the future.

Nicole had contacted me before the meeting because she wants to create a support group for teenagers who stutter.  I invited her to come over to see our group and share ideas with her.  We talked about ways to get started, finding a location, setting a schedule, and ideas for activities.  She would like the chapter to be around King of Prussia in Montgomery county and be able reach out to the surrounding counties that are not so close to the city.  One of her ideas is to have a buddy/mentor program.  I think that is an excellent idea and something where her chapter and ours can work together.

I offered to contact the national organization to find out more about what’s involved with starting a TWST chapter.  I also know other chapter leaders that work with teen groups and I offered getting their input and get her in touch with them.

There is a lot to do but I am excited about the possibility of having a support group for young people in our area. It reminds me of how little help there was when I was young and I am glad that the NSA is here to help and support people like Faith.

If anyone has ideas or would like to work with Nicole on getting the new chapter going, let me know and I’ll pass along her information to you.