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.