Terrified Of The Silence-Episode 123
Posted on: July 21, 2014
Episode 123 features Carmen Shapiro, who hails from Downington, PA. Carmen is originally from Spain and has been in the US for 23 years.
She works as a project manager in an IT department of a pharmaceutical company. She is also the new leader of the Philadelphia NSA Chapter, since November 2013.
Carmen recently returned from her first conference of the National Stuttering Association and we discuss her experience and reflections. She shares how welcome she felt at the conference and how that made her feel more confident about introducing herself to so many people.
We also spend a good amount of time discussing disclosure and why it can be so hard to do. Carmen opens up to her fears and we talk about some different ways to disclose.
This was a wonderful and insightful conversation. Feel free to leave comments or ask questions or just let Carmen know what a great job she did.
The podcast safe music used in this episode is credited to ccMixter.
2 Responses to "Terrified Of The Silence-Episode 123"
August 30, 2014 at 8:16 PM
Hi,
I am sorry it’s taken me this long to reply, I’ve been away and time just flew by. I wanted to thank Natalie for her kind words. What you felt from me is how I felt from everyone I met at the conference and it was so easy to just keep passing it forward. I never felt so comfortable around so many people and although I went to the conference on my own, I never felt alone or lonely.
I also wanted to thank Pam. We met at the conference and I was very inspired by all the things she has done for outreach and educating others about stuttering. She made me feel very comfortable during the interview and it was very easy to share my feelings and impressions with her. I look forward to growing our relationship as we both continue on our roles of supporting people who stutter.
Make Room For The Stuttering 
July 22, 2014 at 7:30 PM
Fantastic podcast, Pam!
What wonderful insights. I could relate to a lot of what she said.
I was surprised to learn that Carmen did not have any children. She so warm and caring. She hugged me at the conference and it felt like home. That is the kind of feeling I want to give people. She has mastered it. I hope to meet her again at a future conference.