January Meeting Recap

January Meeting Recap

Here is a recap of our January meeting for those of you who weren’t around. We’re also meeting this upcoming Monday (President’s Day) for our February meeting (details below).

Per usual, we split into three groups. One group discussed the familiar plethora of emotions stuttering can bring while it’s happens. Some of these emotions run very deep, and may be riddled with shame or disappointment from our past. But perhaps they don’t have to impact us so much today. One member who had given a presentation in front of 100 people wanted to avoid a replay of a previous situation where she was laughed at when she stuttered. In that situation she genuinely believed the laughter wasn’t malicious, but a confused response from her audience. Would it be different this time if she disclosed? Several group members weighed in on their thoughts and shared their experiences of disclosing, which usually turned out to be very good. 

One of the groups discussed how physically exhausting blocks can be, both during and after the block. We also talked about all the negative feelings we have about all this, and what we can do to manage these feelings. This led to a conversation about control, an interesting topic, that in one way or another, often makes its way into these meetings. But how useful is control when talking about our stuttering? One member expressed for him, playing with his stuttering, with people he felt very comfortable with, and making it more intense, to know what it feels like to have control, can psychologically be one way to regain a bit of control when it comes to the level of his fluency, or the severity of a block. 

In another group, one topic that came up was social media and how stuttering is often portrayed in certain platforms. One member expressed how the way stuttering is portrayed on Twitter, often in a ridiculing manner, may be indicative of how society still views stuttering. But is this so? One member felt that this was just selection bias, and this cannot be an accurate representation of what the general public feels. For instance, it is unclear what the demographic is of people who make fun of stuttering online, and almost certainly many of these people are ignorant buffoons. Also, the other 95% (just made this number up) of people who are respectful while interacting with a person who stutters, most likely don’t go on social media and boast how amazing they were for not laughing at someone’s face. It was an interesting discussion.


February Meeting Reminder

 Come join us this coming Monday on February 18th for our NSA Manhattan meeting! Can’t wait to see you there.

DATE: Monday, February 18
TIME: 7:30–9pm
LOCATION: 520 Eighth Avenue, between 36th and 37th Streets – 3rd Floor

Please arrive a little early is possible. There may be a short line to get past security. At the security desk, say you are going to A.R.T./New York on the 3rd floor. (This is the Alliance of Resident Theatres.) For security purposes, you will need to present a photo ID and have your picture taken. Take the left side elevators to get to the 3rd floor.