Hello everyone,

We had a fantastic meeting on Monday night. Thanks for all that could make it for their great ideas and vulnerability to add to the conversation.

We had a total of 21 total members in attendance and we would like to welcome our first-timers Pavan, Ricardo, Matt, Josny, Jake, and Michelah to the group.

AND WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST CO-LEADER, CHAYA!!!!!

We are thrilled to welcome the incomparable Chaya Goldstein as the newest chapter leader to our NSA Midtown Chapter.

We started with quick introductions (per usual) and one thing about why we came to the meeting this week. After reading the opening words we broke up into two groups for some conversation.

Group one

A member asked, “Is stuttering a gift?” Most agreed it was. One member stated that it shaped them to become more compassionate, patient and a better listener. Someone else mentioned that it made us more effective communicators.

Another questioned asked and discussed was “If your stuttering could magically be taken away, would you want that?” Most said that they would, however, not at the expense of losing the positive character traits built through the struggle(s) of stuttering. One person said he wouldn’t because it is something that makes him unique.

What would you do? Feel free to post/comment on our NSA midtown FB page, or on our site.

One person then asked, “Did we start stuttering because we were more sensitive children or did we become more sensitive as a result of stuttering?” It led to an interesting discussion about what research says about temperament in children, which is that temperament is not the cause of stuttering but can contribute to childhood stuttering.

Group two

One member mentioned that he is concerned that stuttering might interfere with job interviews. Many members gave him some great advice about advertising and allowing himself to let his interviewers know that he stutters.

Someone else suggested that we try some role-playing situations to see what it would be like to be in a situation like an interview, ordering coffee, etc. One of our regulars said, “It’s always ok to stutter. The only place that it might not be ok is to ourselves, in our minds”

I brought up the topic of using the word “managing stuttering” vs. the word “controlling stuttering” and some great ideas were brought up about the differences between the two phrases.

If you have any suggestions/thoughts/ideas, email us, or visit our site.

We hope to see you all at our meeting next month!!!