Hi Everyone,
The NSA Boston Adult Chapter met on Wednesday, December 7th. There were six people in attendance – four of whom were at an NSA meeting for the first time (and then, of course, the other two were myself and Jess!).
We started out with our usual choral reading of the Welcoming Words, as well as introductions.
Jess and I spent some time sharing information about the NSA… how our meetings are run, the different events we hold, as well as the annual conference in July. Read more on the annual conference here: http://www.westutter.org/annual-conference/ and save the date: July 5th to the 9th in Dallas, Texas! You can also check out our chapter website for other local updates: https://www.nsachapters.org/boston/
We then delved into our discussion about stuttering and the holidays, which quickly became a discussion about stuttering and anything but the holidays! It was one of those times when the meeting and discussion took on a life of its own and we went with it.
We talked about different situations that can cause more hard days with stuttering (starting with the holidays), and thought about other aspects of such functions (such as drinking). The general consensus was that drinking might make it so you don’t care about stuttering and aren’t thinking about it all that much, but that the next day, it can often be a physical struggle with stuttering.
We also talked a lot about advertising – the concept of telling others that you stutter. One member shared that advertising felt meaningful when telling a coworker, or a perspective employer on an interview, but felt very awkward (“Why is this guy telling me this!?”) in casual brief interactions. We talked about advertising in unconventional ways (not just saying “I stutter” out of the blue)… by mentioning the NSA or an NSA event you’d been to, or when someone asks you about certain practices you had (one person talked about keeping a mirror by his office phone to focus on what’s happening and not getting lost in a block – and then being asked by a coworker about this). Jess also shared about the “Advertising Outing” workshop that happens at the conference – when PWS actually get to GO OUT and advertise.
We spent some time talking about the genetic link with stuttering, and almost every person at the meeting (everyone except me!) had at least one family member who stutters.
As always, we ended our meeting with a choral reading of the Closing Words.
Our conversation throughout the night seemed to cover a lot of ground, despite it being “about anything but the holidays,” as we determined at the end of the meeting. It was wonderful being able to connect with other people who stutter, and see the common experiences that we share.
Jess and I are planning to hold some sort of NSA Boston event/outing in January to kick off the new year, which will likely be in place of our regularly scheduled meeting, so keep an eye out for information on that! And in the meantime, have a wonderful December and a happy holiday season!
Sarah