CBS News Covers Stuttering

This video ran on the CBS Evening News on December 25. It includes footage from an open mic session at this past summer's NSA Convention in Parsippany, NY.


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December 9th Holiday Social

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association will meet this coming Tuesday 12/9 from 7-9pm in the Benbow Room on the ground floor of the Elliott Center on the campus of UNCG. This meeting will be our holiday social, so there is no planned agenda. Please come join us for games and snacks.

News about Pagaclone

Here is the link to a news article from the website for the Wall Street Journal about Pagaclone, a medication to inhibit stuttering being developed by Indevus.

http://tinyurl.com/3gm8m2

*The NSA does not endorse any single approach to treating stuttering.

November 11th Meeting Agenda

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association will meet next Tuesday 11/11 from 7-9pm in the Benbow Room on the ground floor of Elliott University Center on the campus of UNCG. I'm asking that CSD graduate students who are planning to attend the meeting to please choose an article from the International Stuttering Association online conference for 2008 (found on www.stutteringhomepage.com). After reading the article, please think of 3-5 questions and/or topics from the paper to discuss at the meeting. Snacks will be provided.

October 14th Meeting Recap

After a slow summer of meetings, the NC Triad Chapter of the National Stuttering Association came back with a bang for fall! The chapter met on Tuesday night October 14th from 7-9pm in the Benbow Room on the ground floor of Elliott University Center on the campus of UNCG. The meeting was attended by 9 people (1 chapter leader, 4 people who stutter, and 4 SLP graduate students). Christine opened the meeting by reading the welcoming words. There were 4 first-time attendees so Emily gave a brief history of the NSA and the purpose of the group. Then, we did a round of introductions and what brought people to the meeting. The ISAD online conference was brought up on the big screen and we browsed around the sight as a group. The title of one paper brought up a discussion about situations where a stutterer is fluent. Three out of four of the people who stutter report being fluent when they are very angry and yelling or arguing with someone else. Meeting attendees were encouraged to visit the site on their own and pick a paper that interests them to talk about at an upcoming meeting.

Then, we watched clips of Joe Biden speaking about stuttering at various meetings. Drew was gracious enough to put together these clips. One of the clips was of Biden speaking at a benefit for the American Institute for Stuttering. Biden used the word "debilitating" multiple times when referring to stuttering, and this brought about an interesting discussion about whether "debilitating" is an appropriate descriptor. Arguments for both sides of the debate were presented. Towards the end of the meeting, the chapter leader brought up that the SpeechEasy representative for the area proposed coming to a chapter meeting. The group discussed this possibility and decided that they were open to this idea. Sheree read the closing words to end the meeting. The chapter will meet again on Tuesday November 11th from 7-9pm in the Benbow Room.

July Meeting Recap

The NC Triad chapter of the NSA held its monthly meeting on Tuesday July 8th. Two people (1 chapter leader and 1 person who stutters) were in attendance. Drew read the welcoming words to open the meeting. Karrie Craig has stepped down as chapter leader because she will be moving to Raleigh next month. Emily Sharpe will continue to act as chapter leader. We discussed how we like our new room (Benbow), especially because we don't have to put chairs and tables back up after each meeting! We then talked about ideas for future meeting topics. Ideas included having a speaker from UNCG's Public Speaking Center and learning about fluency devices such as the SpeechEasy. Please email us if you have any ideas for future meetings! We then watched a documentary about the making of Rocket Science. The director spoke about how awkward and lonely high school can be for any person, not just stutterers. This point was also brought up in the meeting when we watched the film. Emily read the closing words to finish up the meeting. Our next meeting will take place on Tuesday August 12th from 7-9pm in the Benbow Room in the Elliott University Center at UNCG. Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July!

July Meeting Agenda

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association will hold its next meeting on Tuesday July 8th from 7-9pm in the BENBOW room on the ground floor of Elliott University Center on the campus of UNCG. Please note that the room has changed starting this month. We will be watching a chapter from the Stuttering Foundation of America DVD If You Stutter: Advice for Adults and discussing it for the first half of the meeting. The second half of the meeting will be spent playing a board game. Please email me if you have any questions or suggestions. Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far and has a happy and safe 4th of July.

May Meeting Recap

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association met on Tuesday May 13th and was attended by the 2 chapter leaders and 2 people who stutter. Sheree read the welcoming words to open the meeting. Emily talked about the national NSA conference being held in the NYC area and how to become an NSA member. Our chapter was proud that 75% of the meeting attendees are already NSA members. We finished watching the film Rocket Science, and all agreed that we enjoyed watching the first half more than the second half. We also discussed our thoughts about the technique of singing to prevent stuttering, which was used in the film. One of the attendees has personally used this technique at home but was not comfortable using it in public. The June meeting cannot be held in our usual room because Elliott University Center is being used by the university for student orientation. We decided to hold our June meeting at First Carolina Deli, which is at 1635 Spring Garden Street just down the street from UNCG. This meeting will be an informal social gathering. We will be there starting at 6:30pm on Tuesday June 10th. Drew read the closing words to end the meeting. Beginning in July, meetings will move to a different room, Benbow, on the ground floor of Elliott University Center. Meetings will still be held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 7-9pm.

April Meeting Recap & May Meeting Agenda

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association held its last meeting on April 8, 2008. The meeting was attended by 10 people (4 people who stutter, 4 SLP students, and 2 chapter leaders), including two new faces! Drew read the welcoming words. Melanie Buchanan from UNCG's Career Services Center was the guest speaker and spoke about stuttering and the job search process. Her key piece of advice was for the person who stutters to decide when (and if) they feel comfortable addressing that they are a person who stutters. By bringing up the topic early on, you may not be as anxious during the interview and can focus on your answers rather than trying not to stutter. You can let the employer know when setting up the interview. She also discussed the importance of mock interviews, whether it is with a friend or career counselor. Ms. Buchanan also advised to be positive when talking about stuttering by thinking of examples about how being a stutterer has made you a better employee (i.e. being a good listener, speaking concisely). General job search information, such as resume building tips, was given out. Some of this information can be found on the Career Services Center's website (csc.dept.uncg.edu/students). Ms. Buchanan's lecture generated fantastic discussion about people's personal experiences with the job search. Dichel read the closing words.

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday May 13th from 7-9pm in the Claxton Room on the ground floor of Elliott University Center on UNCG's campus. Additional information from the Stuttering Foundation of America regarding the topic of the April meeting will be available. Some of this information is attached to this post. We will finish watching the film Rocket Science that was started at the March meeting. Also, we will decide where to meet for the June meeting, which will be held at a restaurant. Please email us if you have any suggestions for where to hold the June meeting.

April 8th Meeting Agenda

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association will meet next Tuesday April 8 from 7-9pm in our regular meeting space, the Claxton room on the ground floor of Elliott University Center on the campus of UNCG. First, we will have guest speaker Melany Buchannan from UNCG's Career Services Center, who will talk about the job search as it relates to people who stutter. Please bring any questions you may have about employment for her! We will also finish watching the film Rocket Science and continue discussion about the movie. Hope to see new and returning faces at the meeting.

March Meeting Recap

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association met on Tuesday March 18th. We were pleased to have 10 people attend the meeting, which was our largest so far! The meeting was attended by 4 people who stutter, 1 family member, 3 SLP students, and the 2 chapter co-leaders. Karrie read the welcoming words. We began by sharing one good event and one struggle that has occurred since the previous meeting. Then we watched the first half of the film Rocket Science. We stopped halfway through the movie so there would be time for discussion. Discussion of the movie included how it related or didn't relate to the lives of the stutterers when they were in high school. One comment was that the movie was relatable to those who stutter and those who don't because high school is an awkward time for everyone. There was also time for the SLP students to ask questions for the people who stutter and the people who stutter to give advice to the future speech therapists. Emily read the closing words to end the meeting. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday April 8th from 7-9pm in the Claxton Room on the ground floor of Elliott University Center on UNCG's campus. We will begin the meeting with our guest speaker from UNCG's Career Services, who will speak on stuttering and the job search. Then we will finish watching the movie Rocket Science. We hope to see many returning faces!

March Meeting Agenda

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association will meet next Tuesday March 18th from 7-9pm in the Willow room on the main floor of the Elliott University Center on the campus of UNCG. Please note the room change for this meeting. We will be watching the film Rocket Science, which is about the life of a young man in high school who stutters. Movie appropriate snacks will be provided. At our April 8th meeting, we will have a guest speaker from Career Services at UNCG to discuss stuttering and the job search. We hope to see new and returning faces at both meetings!

March Meeting Time and Room Changed

The next meeting of the NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association has been moved to Tuesday March 20th from 7-9pm in the Willow Room on the main floor of the Elliott University Center on the campus of UNCG. The meeting was originally scheduled for March 13th, but the EUC closes at 6pm that day because the university is on spring break. Please contact us at our email or by phone at 336-337-7354 if you have any questions.

February Meeting Recap

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association held its monthly meeting on Tuesday February 12th. We were excited to see two new faces at the meeting! The meeting was attended by the two chapter leaders and three people who stutter. Drew opened the meeting by reading the welcoming words, which was followed by a round of introductions for the new attendees. We went over the history of the NSA and goals of chapter meetings. The topic of the evening was avoidance, so we discussed difficult speaking situations such as ordering in restaurants, talking on the phone, speaking up in classes, job interviews, and dating. A story shared by one attendee brought up the issue of stuttering and bilingualism. We also brainstormed about how to confront others who react to stuttering by laughing because of a personal experience encountered by one of the attendees. The meeting was wrapped up by Karrie reading the closing words. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday March 11th.

February Meeting Agenda

The chapter's next meeting will be held on Tuesday February 12th from 7-9pm in the Claxton Room on the first floor of the Elliott University Center on the campus of UNCG. We will be discussing perceptions of stuttering, and snacks will be provided. We hope to see many new faces!

January Meeting Recap

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association held its first meeting of the new year on Tuesday January 8th. The two chapter leaders and one person who stutters were in attendance. Due to the limited attendance, the original agenda was replaced by discussion of how to increase meeting attendance. Ideas included advertising at other area universities, contacting local papers, and posting another round of flyers. Those in attendance decided that the issue with attendance seems to be getting those who contact us about the group to actually attend a meeting. We are not sure if the problem is the day or time of the meetings, location, parking, or something else. We would appreciate any insight on this issue.

The group also decided to move forward with plans for an informal meeting. We will be at Panera Bread on Wendover Avenue from 2-4pm on Sunday January 20th. There will be no formal meeting agenda because this will be a meet and greet, and we hope to see many new faces there! Our next regular meeting will be on Tuesday February 12th from 7-9pm.

January Meeting Agenda

Next Tuesday, January 8th, the NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association will hold its first meeting for 2008 from 7-9pm in the Claxton Room on the first floor of Elliott University Center on the campus of UNC Greensboro. We will continue discussing issues, such as how stuttering affects life choices, brought up in the stuttering documentary we watched at the November meeting. Also, we will discuss the possibility of holding an additional informal meeting later in January at a coffee shop. If you are interested in this possibility, please email us with what days/times work best for your schedule. We want to include as many people as possible in this decision.