by Carmen Shapiro | Apr 15, 2017 | Chapter meeting
We had a big turnout at the library for this meeting! We were 8 people, including a new member and two others that had not come to meetings for a very long time. Lou came to the meeting and it was very nice seeing him back to health and in very good shape.
One of our topics was a small survey that one of the new attendees is using to evaluate how people perceive stuttering. In her study, she looks at the impact of faith on our decisions, actions and attitudes. The survey was very short and we all agreed to fill it in before the end of the meeting.
As you know, this year La Salle didn’t host their regular Panel for People who Stutter due to lack of days in the program. However, the students did their stuttering assignment and one of our attendees reported an interesting result. In the assignment, students go out in pairs and one of them pretends he/she stutters and they observe the reaction of the listener as well as report on their own feelings during the experience. We’ve always focused on the person whose turn is to stutter and the reaction of the listener, but it was interesting to hear that the partner that is observing also has a very strong experience. A lot of the students reported that when they are observing, they feel pain for the other student and their instinct is to jump in and help her. They would like to speak for them, or help in any other way to smooth the situation and release the tension.
How do you feel when you are listening to a fellow stutterer? Is it different if you know the person or if you don’t?
These were very interesting topics.
by Carmen Shapiro | Apr 5, 2017 | Chapter meeting
This was a very good meeting. We were 5 people, all chapter members, no students came this time.
We talked about stuttering with confidence. If you do it well you don’t really need to disclosure. It is really surprising that people will not ask you questions or show signs of concern if you stutter confidently.
One of our members gave a presentation to a large group the week before and said that it went well. He asked us what we do when speaking in front of a class or a large group. These were some of our tips:
- Rehearse and prepare the content very well. This way you don’t have to worry so much about what you are saying or having to improvise if you don’t forget something.
- Expect the unexpected so that you are ready if something happens.
- Don’t expect a perfect speech. If you stutter, it will be easier to let it go and move on. It’s a similar concept to stuttering with confidence
- Make it interactive. Ask questions to the audience and encourage them to participate. Instead of foccusing on the large group you focus on what person and it feels like a one-on-one conversation.
This is the time of the year when La Salle University hosts its Panel for People Who Stutter for the graduate students. However, it didn’t take place this year due to being a shorter term and having missed a couple of sessions for bad weather.
We had a La Salle faculty member join us during the last part of the meeting. We talked about the differences between Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). In CBT you recognize alternate possibilities to someone’s behavior and use the information to change yours. In ACT, you recognize the facts (usually something bad or wrong) and work on moving on from that. ACT has connections to mindfulness.
We finished the meeting by talking about the upcoming national conference and our plans to bring the 2019 conference to Philadelphia.
