by Carmen Shapiro | Jan 29, 2015 | News
Bill Collins, Mitch Trichon, Jim McFarlane and Carmen Shapiro met at the Ludington library to talk about the new website and other types of media we would like to use for outreach. We talked about the type of content that we would like to see on the website, such as summaries of our meetings and events, references to other resources and pictures of our chapter activities. We have already put those in place, check out our first two pictures!
Media planning session at the Ludington Library
A lot of ideas were brought up to the table and all of them can be implemented in time. We talked about creating a Facebook page for the chapter, or even a Twitter account. Organizing social activities outside of the regular meetings, having guest speakers, and reaching out to other organizations in the area are also great ideas that we are going to work on.
If you would like to participate or contribute in any way, please contact Carmen.
by Carmen Shapiro | Jan 17, 2015 | Chapter meeting
This was the first meeting of the year because the first Thursday of the month was New Year’s Day. We were four people at the meeting, including a newcomer, Steven. We caught up with what we did during the holidays and quickly turned into other topics.
Steven talked about the way our stuttering changes and it gets better or worse in waves that he called “seasons”. A season could last hours, days or longer. Many times we don’t know how a season starts or ends. We all commented about what we think are triggers for our seasons.
We talked about disclosure and how to do it without making stuttering the topic of the conversation from that point forward. Alan, a retired SLP, suggests using humor. Make it casual and light without apologizing. For example, tell a funny story that happened to you because of your stuttering (if you happen to be at a meeting with Alan ask him to tell you his story about he and a nun in a sound booth).
We also covered how far some of us have gone to avoid speaking, such as purposefully being late to meetings to avoid introducing ourselves or pre-recording a conversation before calling a girl to ask her out.
