December Meeting Recap

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association met Tuesday December 8th from 7-9pm in the Benbow Room in the Elliott Center on the campus of UNCG. There were 5 people in attendance (4 people who stutter and 1 chapter leader/SLP). The meeting started with a round robin reading of the welcome words. Then, each person shared their favorite holiday memory or holiday tradition. The chapter leader relayed a discussion that had been held on the chapter leader's list-serve about if the concept of being called a support group or self-help group deterred people from attending for the first time. The consensus of the group was that self-help denotes the idea of practicing our speech and support group denotes discussing how stuttering is affecting our lives. Many in the group liked the idea of devoting some of our meeting's time to practicing speaking.

This started a great discussion about the purpose and future plans of our own chapter. One point that was brought up is that our chapter's website and entry on the NSA's local chapter list makes it seem at first that the chapter is only for students of UNCG because we meet on the campus. Another attendee reported that they felt more comfortable and prepared about what to expect from reading the meeting recaps on our website (nsagso.blogspot.com). The discussion naturally turned to what lies ahead for the chapter next year. At the next meeting, flyers will be handed out for people to post around town. We'll try to host a social event at a restaurant or coffee place on a non-meeting day to hopefully meet new people. We'll also start putting the meetings back up on local community calendars. The rest of the meeting was about having some fun, so we played the party game Apples to Apples. The closing words were read to end the meeting. Our next meeting will be Tuesday January 12th from 7-9pm in the Benbow Room on the ground/bottom floor of the Elliott Center on the campus of UNCG. I hope that everyone has a happy and safe holiday and enjoys our winter weather!

10/13 Meeting Agenda

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association will meet next Tuesday 10/13 from 7-9pm in the Benbow room on the ground floor of Elliott University Center on the campus of UNCG. We will be discussing the online International Stuttering Awareness Day conference. If you'd like to look at the site ahead of time, it can be found at http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/isad12/isadcon12.html. The theme this year is "Stuttering: More than a Tangled Tongue." Please let me know if you have any questions about the meeting or the chapter. Hope to see you there!

ABC News clip Medical Mystery: Stuttering

I found this clip of an ABC News piece about stuttering.

Medical Mystery: Stuttering

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July Meeting Recap

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association met on Tuesday July 14th from 7-8:30pm in the Benbow Room on the ground floor of Elliott University Center on the campus of UNCG. The meeting was attended by 3 people (2 PWS and 1 SLP), and there was one first time meeting attendee. Drew opened the meeting by reading the welcoming words. Emily gave a brief history of the NSA and the purpose of the Triad chapter. We did introductions of ourselves for the benefit of the first timer. This lead into discussions about previous speech therapy experiences, resources for stutterers who attend UNCG, and support systems for PWS. After a short break, we listened to a portion of a Stutter Talk podcast where Drew had called in to the show to ask about their opinion of the word "fluency" being oppressive. After listening to the podcast's hosts respond to Drew's question, we gave our own opinions of the terms "stuttering" vs. "fluency." We all agreed on the hosts' point that stuttering/fluency therapy should include emotional aspects of stuttering too. We also discussed if "fluency" was more of a clinical term while "stuttering" is used/recognized more often in conversational contexts outside of the therapy environment. Because Jason had driven from an hour and a half away to attend the meeting, we agreed to end earlier than usual. Jason read the closing words to end the meeting. The next meeting will be on Tuesday August 11th from 7-9pm in the Benbow Room on the campus of UNCG in EUC.

Pagoclone Research Trial

Recently, I received an email with information that a local pharmaceutical research center is part of the trial to test Pagoclone, a medication that is being tested for stuttering. Please see the attached file for more information if you are interested in being a part of the research trial for Pagoclone.

April Meeting is Moved

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association will not hold its meeting at the regular date of the 2nd Tuesday of the month for April. Instead, the meeting has been moved to Sunday April 19th from 2-4pm and will not be a formal meeting at UNCG. We will have an informal meet and greet at Panera Bread off Wendover Avenue. We hope this change in day, time, and venue will allow for more of us to gather as a group. Please contact me if you have any questions. Hope to see you there!

February Meeting Recap

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association met on Tuesday February 10th from 7-9pm in the Elliott Center on the campus of UNCG. Five people attended the meeting (1 chapter leader, 2 people who stutter, 2 SLP students), and three were first timers. Laura read the welcoming words to begin the meeting. Emily explained the purpose of the NSA and chapter meetings. We then split into teams to play a Jeopardy game about stuttering information, and everyone learned at least one new fact. Then, after the break everyone wrote down two questions and put them into a paper bag. Each person pulled a question out of the bag and answered it. Some of the questions were more generic about people's favorite foods or travels and other questions were more specific to stuttering. We all learned more about each other. Kini read the closing words to finish up the meeting. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday March 10th from 7-9pm in the Benbow room in Elliott Center. We learned that this meeting will take place during UNCG's spring break, but we hope many will still be able to attend.

February Meeting Agenda

The NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association will meet next Tuesday 2/10 from 7-9pm in the Benbow room on the ground floor of Elliott University Center on the campus of UNC Greensboro. For directions or parking information, it's on the left of this page. We are planning on learning more about stuttering through a fun Jeopardy game. Please contact me if you have any questions.

December Holiday Social

On Tuesday December 9th, the NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association held its holiday social in place of a formal meeting. The social was attended by one person who stutters and the chapter leader. We discussed upcoming holiday plans and enjoyed cheesecake. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday January 13th from 7-9pm in the Benbow room on the ground floor of Elliott University Center on UNCG's campus.

November Meeting Recap

The NC Triad Chapter of the National Stuttering Association met on Tuesday November 11th. Five people (2 people who stutter, 2 speech-language pathology students, and 1 chapter leader) were in attendance. The meeting began with Drew reading the welcoming words. Emily explained the benefits of becoming a member of the NSA and the process of becoming a member. She also covered the "Change for the Better" program. More information about joining the NSA and Change for the Better can be found on the NSA website. Then, each of the SLP students discussed an article from the ISAD online conference. The first article was titled "Is a Stuttering Fluency Therapist better than a Fluent Stuttering Therapist?" and focused on the issue of stutterers becoming SLPs. The second article was titled "Perfectionism and Stuttering: Is there a connection?" and talked about such issues as all-or-nothing thinking, focusing on the negative, and self-defeating thoughts. Both articles generated a lot of discussion. The group then played the PowerR game from the Stuttering Foundation of America and discussed the pros and cons of the game, which is meant to be used a tool in fluency therapy. The meeting closed with Elizabeth reading the closing words.