by Carmen Shapiro | Jun 13, 2018 | Chapter meeting, News
The second meeting of this month (normally set for the 3rd Tuesday of the month at La Salle University) will be held at a different time and location. The new details are: Monday, June 18 – at Bala Cynwyd Library, 1st Floor Meeting Room, 7:00 PM – 8:45 PM.
Also, for the next couple of months, all meetings will be held at the Bala Cynwyd Library. More announcements to come regarding meetings on the second meeting of the month.
See below for upcoming meeting details:
- Monday, June 18 – Bala Cynwyd Library, 1st Floor Meeting Room
- Tuesday, June 19 – RESCHEDULED to Monday 6/18/18 (no more La Salle University meetings; new location to be announced)
- Thursday, July 5th – CANCELLED due to NSA Conference in Chicago
- Tuesday, July 17th – Bala Cynwyd Library, 2nd Floor Meeting Room
by Carmen Shapiro | Mar 20, 2018 | Chapter meeting
Today’s meeting is cancelled due to bad weather conditions. Be safe on your travels!
by Carmen Shapiro | Feb 12, 2018 | Chapter meeting
We were 5 people at this meeting, including two graduate students from La Salle.
One of us brought up a recent experience with self-disclosure in the workplace and we all had something to say about our own. We agreed that self-disclosure is helpful for both the listener and the person disclosing. It is interesting that for some, the main goal is to put the listener at ease whereas for others it is to help themselves. The person that discloses gains more control and power over the situation. It makes communication easier and, indirectly, helps with fluency. Although some times it feels that we are stating the obvious, there is value in recognizing the elephant in the room.
We also talked about the concept of “stuttering well”.Those are two words we never thought belonged together but there is such a thing as stuttering well. It means that although you might stutter, you can skip the feelings of embarrassment. Give yourself a pass and let it happen. Hold eye contact, stutter if you must, and move on. Don’t bring yourself down and stutter with confidence.
Question for all: What you do post in Facebook regarding stuttering? Do you not post anything about it so people don’t judge by it?
by Carmen Shapiro | Jan 25, 2018 | Chapter meeting
Happy New Year! Our last two regular meetings were cancelled due to the holidays and bad weather. It was nice to see everyone at this meeting and share stories about the holidays. We were 7 people, including one graduate student and two new people who stutter.
We talked about stuttering in the workplace and worrying about being judged and not being taken seriously. There always be judging, whether we stutter or not. It is human nature to judge, the key is not to let it bother us and not changing what we do because of fear of it. Focus on good communication not on how it is delivered. Did you say what you wanted to say? Did people get your message? For us, there always be some level of stuttering but that is not what we should focus on. We shouldn’t avoid saying things just because we are afraid of stuttering. We have to focus on our successes not our failures and go through it.
Stuttering changes throughout life and is different in every situation. It is important to change our attitude towards it. Our goal should not be not to stutter but to be able to communicate, regardless of the shape it takes.
We reminded everyone about our holiday party on January 27th. Contact Carmen if you would like to come
by Carmen Shapiro | Dec 15, 2017 | Chapter meeting
This was a small meeting. After checking in and sharing the latest events, we had some nice conversations.
One of us brought up the topic of performance reviews and how to communicate bad news in a constructive way. There were good ideas being shared and we used role play to practice both sides. One was the person giving the feedback and the other the person being reviewed. It was very helpful and a lot of fun
by Carmen Shapiro | Oct 29, 2017 | Chapter meeting
There were 6 people at this meeting. One of our new members is moving out of town and we gave her our best wishes in her new city. We put her in touch with the NSA chapter in that area and she will be joining them after she arrives.
It was a lively meeting with a lot of interesting topics
by Carmen Shapiro | Oct 15, 2017 | Chapter meeting
We were three people at this meeting. We shared several experiences about our stuttering. One of us is feeling better in the sense that the blocks are getting easier to overcome and being more comfortable when they occur.
One of us shared the following: A person laughed at him after having difficulties saying his name. He asked what’s wrong and the person said, “it seems that is hard for you saying your name”, to which he replied, “It was. I stutter”. He didn’t want to be laughed at and he didn’t say it to be controversial either. He just wanted to speak up and leave the matter finished. How would you have reacted if this had happened to you?
We also talked about being shy and how it perceived by people. Are you shy if you speak slowly, are measured or are less bubbly? Is that a measure of shyness? One can be reserved on what we say and how we say it and still be very social at the same time. We know people that are very outgoing and still would not go to a party where they don’t know anyone. Would you? Are shyness and stuttering inter-related at all? Whenever you don’t feel like talking, is it because of shyness? Is it because you are worried about stuttering?
by Carmen Shapiro | Sep 22, 2017 | Chapter meeting
Five people attended this meeting, all regulars.
We went over the 2019 conference proposal and I’ll be making a few changes. Mitch told us he has been honored to be the Key Note speaker at next year’s ISA/IFA conference in Japan. Congratulations, Mitch!
We talked about the difficulties we have when participating in a group conversation. It is hard to find the opportunity to interject and take our turn. We have to interrupt or be aggressive. People don’t understand that people who stutter have a harder time getting started. Sometimes the topic changes by the time you get your change and by then it is too late. It would be nice if adult conversations could be carried like they were in school, just raise a hand and you’ll get your turn.
by Carmen Shapiro | Sep 9, 2017 | Chapter meeting
Only another person and I attended this meeting. We talked about summer activities and challenges at work and how the affect or stuttering. Answering phones is always hard for us and we talked about different ways to approach a phone conversation.
by Carmen Shapiro | Aug 17, 2017 | Chapter meeting
We had 6 people at this meeting, including one new person.
One of us attended the Goldman Sachs practice interview session in NYC and gave us an overview of the event. About 20 people who stuttered and a similar number of interviewers participated. The interviewers were Goldman Sachs employees that volunteered. Each interviewee talked to two people individually and got feedback afterwards. Later, there was a panel discussion about the experience. Several people had other disabilities or challenges such as being deaf or blind in one eye. They talked about how Goldman Sachs makes it easy for people to being open and they found a lot of support because of that.
This prompted a lot of other topics that made the meeting go by very quickly.
