Thank you for your paper and your contributions of the stuttering community. It presents a thoughtful and interesting adaptation of the theme of a classic piece of literature. Could there be a Martian Venusian? Consider it like the case of having two passports. The person is a Venusian by heritage but is a Martian by birth. This person has been to Venus and has many Veniusian friends but was dismayed and discouraged by a culture that emphasized expression of feelings, acceptance of difference and empathy rather than a results orientation and survival of the fittest. Therefore, the person stayed a Martian because Martians emphasize achievement, survival, and independence. Three of the most prominent and most cited examples of overcoming stuttering are by Martians, James Earl Jones, John Stossel, and Jack Welch. Likewise, many of the non-SLP leaders in the stuttering community are Martians. Should overcoming stuttering be a goal and if so what role does being a Martian (either native or naturalized) play in one’s ability to do so? What is the role of the stuttering community in teaching Venusians Martian-like behaviors to become a leader and thereby overcome stuttering? Also, as you rightly point out, there are Martians who feel more comfortable with a Venusian existence. Should that be encouraged at the expense of achievement?
Posts Tagged ‘women who stutter’
Finding Myself As Me – Episode 116
Posted on: April 1, 2014
Episode 116 features Sara MacIntyre who hails from Philadelphia, PA and presently lives in Brooklyn, New York. Sara is a SLP working with people who stutter at the American Institute for Stuttering (AIS) in NYC.
Sara was extremely covert about her stuttering for a long time and decided in her senior year of college that she needed a change. She describes a conversation with her parents where she disclosed that she still stutters.
It was then that Sara and her mom searched around for quality therapy and Sara found and decided to do a three-week intensive therapy at the AIS.
Listen in as we talk about meeting other people who stutter for the first time and a little bit about the therapy program at AIS. Sara also talks about her “stuttering closet,” giving herself a “free pass” at times and being kind to herself, and how she came to work as a SLP at AIS.
This was a great conversation and it was so nice getting to know Sara. Feel free to leave comments or questions below. Feedback is a gift.
The podcast safe music used in this episode is credited to ccMixter.
She Stutters So Cool-Episode 115
Posted on: March 17, 2014
Episode 115 features Cora Campbell, who hails from Temecula, California. Cora is a Speech Pathology Assistant and a NSA Chapter leader for a chapter she started just six months ago.
Listen in as we discuss career decisions and how stuttering often influences our career pathway. Cora mentions that she didn’t want to work in the “back of places.”
We also discuss advertising, openly stuttering in front of others and voluntary stuttering. Cora relates a story about meeting two women who stutter out in the community and how she chose to be open about her stuttering.
We also discuss how Cora got involved with the self help community and found the National Stuttering Association and went on to found her own chapter in her community.
Feel free to leave comments below. Feedback is a gift.
The podcast safe music used in this episode is credited to ccMixter.
International Women’s Day
Posted on: March 8, 2014
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Check out this great panel of strong women who stutter engaging in a conversation to celebrate International Women’s Day.
Finding The Community – Episode 114
Posted on: March 3, 2014
Episode 114 features Courtney Luckman who hails from Virginia, and presently lives in Chicago, Illinois. Courtney is a research intern at Lincoln Park Zoo, working as a primate behavior monitor. She is doing Great Ape behavioral research.
Courtney also has a part-time hostess job at an area restaurant and for fun enjoys reading and working on a memoir of her stuttering journey.
Listen in as we talk about why Courtney chose her career path. She never felt connected to people because of her stuttering, but could talk fluently to animals. She always knew she wanted to work with animals for her career.
Courtney also talks about pushing out of comfort zones, stuttering well, advertisement, control and the National Stuttering Association.
Courtney was influenced in different ways by John Harrison and Alan Badmington, who both were featured on my “men who stutter” podcast!
We also talk about the journey Courtney is taking by writing her book and how she realizes that she has had many moments that have shaped the person she has become.
The podcast safe music used in this episode is credited to ccMixter. Feel free to leave comments below. Feedback is a gift.
Episode 113 features Sarah Onofri who hails from Boston, MA. Sarah is an elementary ESL teacher, a Girl Scout leader and is also on the Board of Directors of the National Stuttering Association.
Sarah talks about how she got into teaching and how she handles her stuttering when it comes up with her students. Sarah was introduced to a teacher who stutters when she was 16 at her first NSA conference, which really reinforced to Sarah that she could indeed be a teacher.
Listen in as we talk about advertising, acceptance and actually talking about stuttering, which Sarah never did when she was young.
We talk about her early speech therapy experiences and how she first learned about the NSA. Sarah also talks the bond she and her mom have formed after attending annual conferences together.
Feel free to leave comments or ask questions. Feedback is a gift.
The podcast safe music used in this episode is credited to ccMixter.
Hold Their Hearts-Episode 112
Posted on: November 27, 2013
Episode 112 features Rachel Dancy who hails from Saginaw, Michigan. Rachel works as a job coach at Do-All, Inc. which is an agency that supports people with developmental disabilities.
Listen in as we discuss how Rachel chose her field of work and the importance of having a supportive work environment. We talk a bit about negative reactions to stuttering and the best ways to handle them.
We also hear from Rachel’s boyfriend, Rick, who shared his point of view on being the partner of someone who stutters. We discuss interrupting and why that happens from time to time.
This was a very honest and insightful conversation and it was great getting to know both Rachel and Rick.
The podcast safe music clip used in this episode is credited to DanoSongs.
Good Analogies For Stuttering
Posted on: November 18, 2013
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A great blog piece came out last week, written by Madeline Wahl for The Huffington Post. Her piece is called “What It Actually Feels Like To Stutter.”
She uses such descriptive language to nail the feelings we have during stuttering moments. She describes stuttering as “dashing to make a connecting flight but being too late.” And “making it to the subway just to have the doors close in your face.”
She describes fluent conversation as a back and forth volleyball match, with the words flowing just right, until an “out-of-bounds” is called when stuttering emerges.
Wahl’s descriptive language and imagery perfectly describes those stuttering moments where we feel helpless and out of control.
The article has been shared numerous times in the stuttering community via social media posts, garnering lots of “likes” and comments.
Wahl writes that over time she has come to terms with her stuttering. She knows she is going to stutter every day. Yet she doesn’t focus on acceptance. She focuses on the moments when she is able to execute her words fluently.
She writes about “the exhilarating, skydiving-through-the-air moments (that) occur whenever (she) says a sentence without stuttering.” She practices tongue twisters in front of a mirror in order to perfect her speech and not stutter.
I don’t think she has really come to terms with her stuttering if she is celebrating her fluent moments and endlessly practicing to not stutter.
I would have liked to see her say something about acceptance.
What do you think?
My Name Is Cookie-Episode 111
Posted on: November 7, 2013
Episode 111 features Lois “Cookie” Green who hails from Fremont, California.
Lois is presently a photographer, owning her own business after retiring from a 25 year career working for an automobile manufacturing company.
Listen in to a great conversation about how Lois has managed her stuttering over her life time. She shares how she got the nickname Cookie, which is a story that many of us will be able to relate to.
Lois also shares about how a visit to a reflexology practitioner helped her to become fluent on two key words.
We also chat about management strategies, taking risks and becoming a leader. It was great getting to chat with Lois after getting to know her a bit through the Face Book stuttering groups.
Feel free to leave comments or questions for either of us, or just let Lois know what a great job she did. The podcast safe music used in this episode is credited to ccMixter.
Episode 110 features return guest Carolina Ayala who hails from Ajax, Ontario, Canada. Carolina and I are friends from attending the National Stuttering Association’s annual conferences and we stay in touch throughout the year.
Carolina works in the disability field with adults with intellectual impairments and is also a part-time educator at a local college. She also does volunteer work.
Listen is as we talk about the struggles Carolina has experienced at work related to her stuttering and the strategies she uses.
We also talk about the humanitarian mission work that Carolina has had the opportunity to do. She has gone on mission trips to Mexico, El Salvador, Thailand, Cambodia and most recently India. She shares some of the significant memories of the recent trip to India, of which she is very passionate about.
Carolina worked with exploited women in the Red Light District of Kolkata, and also spent time working with children whose parents are on the street.
She had the chance to meet a child who stutters, named Nata and tells us how she was able to share the stuttering experience with him.
Below is Carolina’s favorite picture from her trip to India – giving first aid to children on the streets.
The podcast safe music used in today’s episode is credited to DanoSongs.
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I saw an interesting link to a blog called The Stuttering Source on Facebook and decided to check it out. The link was to the recent post about when does stuttering therapy end for a person who stutters.
The blog is written by a SLP who works as a Fluency Clinic Supervisor at the National Speech Language Therapy Center in Maryland.
I’m always interested in stuttering blogs so I decided to look at older posts.
Imagine my surprise when I saw a video of myself in the next post, titled The 411 on Voluntary Stuttering. The blogger used my video (with credit and a link to my blog) as a springboard to talk about how she uses voluntary stuttering in therapy.
I had kind of forgotten I had done this video. Of course I watched it again and quite enjoyed it. Hope you do too!
Finding Confidence – Episode 109
Posted on: October 25, 2013
Episode 109 features Nelly Foster, who hails from Seattle, Washington. Nelly and I met at the National Stuttering Association conference in July 2013, her first conference.
Nelly recently graduated from college with a degree in psychology, but has decided she wants to pursue a career in speech language pathology.
Nelly attended the American Institute for Stuttering (AIS) in 2012 because she was looking to become more confident with her stuttering. At AIS, she met a SLP who stutters and was inspired by his confidence.
Listen in as we talk about job interviews, advertising stuttering, not letting stuttering define us, Toastmasters and the importance of role models.
We have a moment during our conversation where Nelly has a block and I am not sure when to resume talking. Nelly had to tell me she was done speaking. We were able to honestly discuss how that sometimes happens with two people who stutter.
I really enjoyed this conversation and the chance to get to know Nelly and hope you do too.
The podcast safe music used in this episode is credited to ccMixter.
Women Who Stutter Are From Venus
Posted on: October 17, 2013
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If you get a chance, please read my paper called “What Women Who Stutter Want To Talk About” that has been presented at this year’s ISAD Conference.
In my paper, I talk about John Gray’s classic book Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus., where Gray suggests there are differences between the communication styles and emotional needs of men and women.
I draw some parallels to how this fits with the stuttering experience.
I have received many interesting comments from readers, mostly graduate students aspiring to be SLPs. Most note appreciation that this paper gave people something to think about when considering the different needs of people who stutter.
One comment however suggests that women should be taught to be more like men, so that stuttering can be overcome and so that women can be leaders. I was a bit concerned about this comment and its implications. Here’s the comment – what do you think?
Episode 108 features Roisin McManus who hails from Brooklyn, NY. Roisin works as a Registered Nurse in a Manhattan Emergency Room and is pursuing her master’s degree to become a Nurse Practitioner.
Roisin also stays busy with her involvement in the stuttering community and the stuttering support group she helps lead in Brooklyn.
Listen in to a robust conversation about managing stuttering and the emotions around stuttering, being confident in the workplace, the importance of support and how shame can sneak in when we least expect it.
We also talk about the workshop Roisin helped with at least month’s NSA conference on authentic stuttering, and the distinction between authentic stuttering and authenticity and the price we sometimes pay for both.
Roisin also shares about what it means for her to want to be witness to her own stuttering. We have a meaningful discussion about how important that is.
This was a great, wide open, honest conversation with a woman who talks a lot about stuttering, as she is also a co-host on the Stuttertalk podcast. I was thrilled to have Roisin as a guest, as we’d been trying forever to make this happen. I am glad it did – it was worth the wait.
Music used in today’s episode is credited to ccMixter.
Her Second Language-Episode 107
Posted on: August 5, 2013
Episode 107 features Rachel Martinez, who hails from Albuquerque, NM. Rachel just recently moved to Los Angeles, CA in order to pursue her dream of becoming a professional dancer.
Rachel introduces herself as “I’m a person who stutters, but that’s definitely OK.”
Rachel is a self-taught dancer and dreams of dancing for her career. She explains that when she dances, she doesn’t stutter, and wants to be known for her dancing, not her stuttering. She feels a freedom of expression when dancing.
Listen in as we discuss meeting at the National Stuttering Association annual conference – Rachel’s first one – meeting other people who stutter and support group meetings. We also talk about fear, and revealing your true self under all that stuttering.
The podcast safe music clip used in this episode is credited to ccMixter.
Feel free to leave comments or just let Rachel know what a great job she did. Remember, feedback is a gift.
It’s A New Life – Episode 106
Posted on: July 14, 2013
Episode 106 features Amey Herrin, who hails from McDonough, Georgia, where she lives with her husband and young daughter.
Amey has a BS degree in psychology and did graduate work in UTEP (Urban Teaching Education Program). She plans to finish her degree in counseling and become a psychologist when her daughter is older.
Amey has been actively involved in stuttering advocacy and education for many years, speaking to schools, universities and SLP groups. She takes great pride in representing the stuttering community and helping people.
Listen in as we discuss Amey’s experiences with intensive speech therapy, covert to overt stuttering, and confident stuttering. We also talk about fear and pride.
According to Amey, “we can choose what kind of stutterer we’re going to be.”
This was a great, robust conversation. Feel free to leave comments or just let Amey know what a great job she did.
The podcast safe music used in this episode is credited to ccMixter.
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