April 27th, 2021

Post date: April 28, 2021

Our Eastern Maine Chapter met last night and we had a great meeting and lively discussion. Seven of us zoomed in together... 2 NEW faces, Don Sommese, the new NH Chapter Leader and our State neighbor, and Anna P., who was finally able to zoom in.  It was also great to see Mike M. again after a long absence!  Chris M, Megan, Natalie and Marybeth (me) were also in attendance. We talked about our past experiences meeting our "1st other person who stutters" and what that experience was like for us; this topic always produces some interesting answers. Topics then moved onto the article and research ideas I sent out related to "Self-Compassion" and the study Robyn L. Croft and Courtney T. Byrd conducted and published in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.  We had lots of questions about this concept; things like "how it relates to people who stutter as opposed to those who don't and what implications it could have for holistic speech therapy.  We also talked about some of the ways we (those of us present in the meeting) pull ourselves up and/or find ways to help ourselves by bringing our reactions to stuttering into perspectives that are positive and objective rather than negative and self-degrading.  All in all...great discussions.  I also reported on National NSA's new policy to "allow" in person gatherings for "official NSA Chapter Meetings" as long as the safety guidelines can be followed (masks, outdoors, signing a waiver).  As our Zoom meetings have gone well and have led to increased participation, I made note that perhaps we could add an in-person meeting to our monthly schedule when weather warms up a bit. (Actually by that time, the outdoor mask requirement may be lifted, never know)