A Long Journey – Male Episode 4
Posted on: January 24, 2012
Episode 4 of this occasional series with men who stutter features my good friend Joseph Diaz, who hails from Dallas, Texas. Joseph and I met at my first NSA conference in 2006, which was in Long Beach, CA. We have been fast friends since.
Joseph is a long time member of the National Stuttering Association (NSA). He has held many leadership positions with the NSA, including being a long time board member.
Joesph started stuttering rather late. His stuttering didn’t make an appearance until he was a junior in high school.
Joseph shares his long journey with stuttering. He talks about the times when stuttering consumed his life, avoidance behaviors and negative self-talk. He also talks about his “rock bottom” and how he turned the corner.
Joseph honestly shares about what it was like socializing, making friends and dating. We also talk about acceptance, and how that conscious decision to accept himself as a person who stutters shaped his life.
Joseph also shares his career path, and his very active involvement with Toastmasters.
We hope you listen in! Feel free to leave comments or questions for Joseph, or just thank him for sharing and doing such a good job!
Music used in this episode is credited to ccMixter.
2 Responses to "A Long Journey – Male Episode 4"
January 26, 2012 at 1:01 PM
I so enjoyed listening to your story, Joseph. I think the yoga of your life came through because one of the things I found myself appreciating was the pauses, the silences, that you and Pam allowed to happen while you were forming your responses, and I don’t mean you were blocking or anything to do with stuttering. I really heard the process of your life, the story of your life unfolding and it did seem like a more honest, more realistic pace, at least to those of us of the “older” generations! I also loved hearing you refer to Dallas as “town” or “in town.” Thank you so much for sharing.
Make Room For The Stuttering 
January 24, 2012 at 9:50 PM
I loved the ‘moving from the 4th row to the 3rd row’ analogy. It’s true that the younger generation just look for that quick fix, but its all because things now are so fast paced! Its by listening to and learning from people like Joseph and you, people like me realize the importance of taking one’s time and embracing the process of change through its various steps.
It was very refreshing listening to Joseph speak about his long association with the NSA. I can’t wait to attend the upcoming conference with you guys!!