July 28th, 2015

Post date: Aug 3, 2015 3:14:10 PM

We had quite a crowd at our July meeting !! It was great to see 7 of us regulars (PWS: Erin, Jason, Chris, Mike, Ravi and myself and Jane,  Mike's wife)  We were joined by 5 graduate SLP students from UMaine in the midst of the summer clinic session.    12 of us crowding around a Dysart's table for 8 !!  We took over that part of the room !!! 

After introductions, which we kept sort of short because of the crowd, the floor was open to sharing our news from the past month.  Erin has had a great experience at Acadia National Park, as she was one of a few teachers accepted at a summer intern program where teachers hang out with the rangers for 3 weeks !! The goal is to then bring all that experience and knowledge back their classrooms.  Erin shared how she advertised her stuttering early on and felt really good about the whole experience.  This summer, my husband and I have been doing more "summer BBQ" entertaining that usual and he tends to put me "on the spot" to tell about some of our recent travel experiences.   I realize that this increases my stuttering...but rather than reacting negatively to my husband , I'm trying to just take it in stride and stutter away !!   Mike has been very busy with family and grandkids and Jason has enjoyed spending time with his dad, up for the summer, He also shared that he has a chance for a job and is excited about that. 

As an activity we shared a paper from ISAD (here's the link http://isad.isastutter.org/isad-2014/papers-presented-by/perceptions-and-interpretations/conscious-avoidance-or-better-communication/)  and also an article from JFD about Recurring Involuntary Imagery (attached).   WE all agreed that we, as PWS, do have these visual negative images connected to our negative thoughts about stuttering, and how they get so connected to shame and frustration and then..of course, increasing our anxiety as we anticipate stuttering !!  We also discussed and acknowledged that the best course of action is to replace negative with positive thought.  But that is so hard to do in real life. Chris brought forward the concepts of mindfulness and witnesses (discussed in the ISAD article) as good tools to help us with  that.    The students always joined in and it's always good to realize that PWS aren't the only ones who have anxieties and fears about talking and specific situations like public speaking and telephones. 

The grad students big question of the night was,  "How to work with kids who stutter", and "What we would have wanted to hear from our SLPs when we were in school", and "What worked for us in therapy in school".  All of us agreed strongly that we needed to hear that it's okay to stutter, to put our "different speech" into perspective.  We talked about how important it was to  help them "deawfulize stuttering"  and help them see that you can stutter and still be a good communicator and be successful.   If they learn to not fear and accept their stuttering, then the fluency strategies will be more successful. !  Of course, we all also noted how hard it is to send that message without peer group support and that's why organizations like NSA and FRIENDS and/or other online resources are so important at that age. 

So, long report !   But, it was a great meeting  !!