Thursday, May 4, 2017

Meeting notes from our 1st meeting on Sunday

Sunday's time showed to be working well with group members and think these meetings will get even bigger.  No traffic, easy to park and a late Sunday afternoon works really well. Try it out!

After introductions and why people like a Sunday meeting, we moved on to one of my group questions.  "Is there a particular action brought on by your stuttering that has shaped or hindered what you do and how you do it?  This could be making a call, ordering food at a drive thru, meeting new people etc.  I asked people to bring up a specific event.  So come to a meeting and you can hear our stories.

Key takeaways; Modification of one's speech and avoidance behavior causes can range from daily decisions such as ordering food, making and receiving calls at work, and even some fluency is worse around really old friends vs. new ones.

Questions we covered were;

What actions have you taken to try to improve the situation?

Have they been positive or negative?

Why do you think this is?

How do you think you could improve the situation?

The takeaway from several people were you need to get out of your comfort zone and try.  Many activities and sports is a perishable skill set if not practiced.  Well, speech and one's fluency is the same.  Practice more on the phones, call places to ask questions on the phone, take dance lessons to introduce yourself many times a night, practice going thru a drive thru, join a group to meet others.  Taking charge on one's stuttering is controlling what you CAN CONTROL.  Putting yourself in positions you can practice better fluency really comes down to confidence.  Fake it to you make it LOL.  Once one can understand to speak when they are ready, will their fluency and confidence improve.

Matt

Sunday, February 26, 2017

NSA Orange County Chapter February 23, 2017 Meeting update

Four members were present along with two SLP Graduate students from Cal State Fullerton. The students observed the meeting and then asked questions of us near the end. One of our members, a high school senior, applied to Stanford & MIT & was accepted at Stanford. He's waiting to hear from MIT before making a decision. His field is Math. Way to go Dillon! (Personally I'd stick with Stanford as it gets mighty cold in Cambridge in the winter!) The regular Riverside Group member came to this meeting - thanks again, Raoul.

We started with information about upcoming events:
    The NSA national convention is in Dallas this year, July 5-9. (I can't wait for the next convention - Minneapolis in January!) Seriously, NSA wisely keeps hotel costs down by holding conventions in vacation "off seasons." It will be hot in Dallas in July, but most of the time people will be indoors.


     A "Friends Who Stutter Workshop" will be held at Chapman University, April 1, 9:30 to 4:00. Loryn McGill, an SLP, Chapman faculty member & sometime attendee at our meetings, is one of the coordinators. This workshop brings together young children and teenagers who stutter, their parents, members of stuttering self-help groups, and speech-language pathologists. Adults who stutter are encouraged to join. Separate workshops will be presented for adults, teenagers, children, and professionals. The format includes presentations, small group discussions and panel presentations. Emphasis is on integrating treatment techniques and support services for people who stutter. Offerings for children will include enjoyable workshops on stuttering facilitated by speech-language pathologists and members of the adult stuttering community. Lunch - pizza, cookies and drink - is included in the registration fee.  For more information: Workshop eventbrite page

   The Riverside & San Diego chapters are having a social at the Spaghetti Factory in San Marcos on March 11. I believe this is open to other chapters, so OC members can attend. Or we can just crash it! Seriously, I'll get more info on this.

We started with introductions and the question "Who do you think stole Tom Brady's jersey?" For those who didn't know who Tom Brady is or couldn't care less, the alternative question was "What's your favorite vegetable?" (Introductory questions & Table Topics are designed to get people talking in a safe & supportive environment; they don't have to be deep philosophical questions.) One member said he knew who stole the jersey but was holding out for the book & movie deal. Other members gave their favorite vegetables - broccoli, squash & cilantro. The cilantro lover said he sprinkles chopped cilantro on his cereal in the morning. Other members immediately moved away from him - just kidding! (I thought I was weird for sometimes eating sardines for breakfast.)

Next we did Table Topics, with each person talking for about 5 minutes. Table topics are becoming a regular feature of the meetings. Topics included: "Favorite Vacation Experience," "Modern Hi-Tech Communications," "How to Balance Work/Social/Alone Time," & "The Basis of Friendship." The member who had this last topic said his stuttering was an advantage, because it helped him choosing friends - he wouldn't want anyone who made fun of his stuttering as a friend.

With the time remaining, we had a topic for discussion: "Looking back on your life, is there something you wish you had done concerning your stuttering that you didn't do?"  Everyone talked about some variation of the same theme here: wishing they had been more open about  stuttering, hadn't hid it so much & had started speech therapy sooner. 

Finally the students asked a few questions including "How old were you when you became aware of your stuttering?"

That's it for now: next meeting is March 9, led by the one & only Matt deHeras. See you all then.

Sunday, February 5, 2017

NSA Orange County Chapter January 26, 2017 Meeting Update


I know this is a little late, but I’ve been up to my neck in rabid gerbils with stuff to do. It never ends. I’m going somewhat from memory here so I may not have captured everything.

Six people were present, the best turnout we’ve had in awhile.  I hope this is the start of a trend. Two new members were present – welcome Jenifer & Reema! These two ladies were past co-chapter leaders of the Long Beach NSA chapter. That chapter is no longer meeting, but Jenifer & Reema hope to get it going again. A regular member of the Riverside chapter was also present. He’s becoming an NSA junky like me, regularly attending two different NSA chapter meetings each month.

We started with introductions & the question “Did you include any goals about your stuttering in your New Year's resolutions?” One person said he has the same goal as always: try not to hide my stuttering. And, along with that, try to let myself stutter in front of someone who hasn’t heard me stutter. Another person wants to “ignore” his stuttering. By this he meant he wants not to be so much aware that he stutters, as it uses a lot of energy & time. Another person plans to return to speech therapy after a 5-year hiatus.

Next we did Table Topics, with each person speaking for about 5 minutes. Topics included: “What’s the hardest part of your job?” “What has been your greatest adventure?” “What is your favorite place to visit?” “Have sports gotten out of hand?” and  “Where would you like to visit that you haven’t yet?” Again, table topics is a good way for people to talk in front of others and practice any fluency techniques in a safe environment.


That's all for now. There may not be a meeting on February 9, but there will definitely be one on February 23. Matt & I will keep you posted. Gotta get back to those gerbils.