Hey PWS,
Last night was cool. After listening to a really, really good StutterTalk podcast during my ride into Brooklyn, I arrived with a brain tingling over the complexities of this way we talk. The group was unique for a few reasons. There were only eight of us. We were all people who stutter. And it was Emma’s first meeting as co-leader! We started off with a short meditation and introductions. Then we dimmed the lights and watched this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8XOyY54-Ew
Watch the video before scrolling down, if you can. Everyone in the room reacted to it. “She seems so proud.” “ She seems angry.” “She’s right when she says that this is the only honest part of me.” “She owns it, because it is just how she talks.” “She’s too dramatic for me.” “I love how she said ‘I speak my own language fluently.’” “What is slam poetry anyways??” “It made me uncomfortable, and I think that is good.” “We are a lot like barn owls!”
The rest of the meeting revolved around the ideas that Erin presented in her poetry. Why do we struggle to normalize the way we talk? Why does the world suggest to us that we should? Is this just “our language?” People speak it across socioeconomic statuses, ethnicities, countries, languages, religions, and centuries. What’s up with that? Should little kids who stutter receive intensive therapy to “save them” from this? Some kids get cured…right? Is it truly possible to receive speech therapy without receiving the message that we should change the way we speak? Many of us were explicitly or implicitly taught to strive for fluency. Chris pointed out that we have built an extraordinary muscle for focus and determination as we failed on an hourly, daily, yearly basis to become people who don’t stutter.
For whatever reason, we had to try. Our failure at becoming something we are not now brings us together in a room in Brooklyn to flex our muscles and envision something that makes a little more sense.
Then we all walked down the street to have a beer and a laugh. I went to bed really grateful that my stuttering has somehow landed me in a room with these people.
Important Announcements
- October 4th, mark your calendars! NYC Stutters (Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens Chapters) will be having a social event at the Bohemian Beer Garden in Astoria on Sunday Oct 4th from 2pm-7pm. Come enjoy the fall weather and get to know your fellow PWS a little better. More info to come!
- Sept 24th, mark your calendars! Chaya (Midtown Chapter Co-Leader) is stepping into the role of professor at LIU Brooklyn and teaching their Fluency course (excuse the name, maybe one day they’ll smarten up and call it what it is – Stuttering). She is having a panel of PWS come talk to the SLP students on 9/24 at 6:30pm in Downtown Brooklyn and she wants you!. This is a great opportunity to tell your story in a safe environment, but more importantly to educate future SLPs about this way we talk and how it affects us. Believe me, they won’t know if we don’t tell them. Email cgoldsteinslp@gmail.com for more info!
The next NYC chapter meeting is next Monday, Sept 21st from 7:30 – 9pm at Aspire on 248 West 35th St. Check it out!!