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.