NSA New Haven Chapter

In this year's MANHATTAN SHORT film festival, the film Voice Activated is made by a filmmaker who stutters, about a character who stutters. The actor (who doesn't stutter) portrays the stutter and struggle in a very real way. It was also shown at the Tribeca film festival in June. Glad to see more stuttering films getting out there!

In the beginning of this interview, Joe Biden talks about stuttering

On Purpose with Jay Shetty - President Joe Biden ON: How to Navigate the Path of Grief with Resilience and Hope & Ways to Make Challenging Decisions Under Pressure In this very special episode, it is my great honor to be invited to the White House for a rare and very personal interview with President Joe Biden. We will witness The President reflecting on his earliest childhood memories that have indelibly shaped his path. We pause and contemplate the significa...

The group had a wonderful holiday dinner tonight, catching up and having good conversation. Stay tuned for our first in-person meeting next year...

It's here! Our holiday dinner this year will be Weds, Dec 14, at 7pm, at J Roos in North Haven. (Thanks, Mike H for the idea of a venue.) They have a large menu variety, so something for everyone.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58b1ddf9414fb5caa4dcc216/t/6376941c488f6465a2c61685/1668715548701/JRoosMenuMain_2022_08_Aug_11x8.5.pdf

The address is:
J Roos
243 State Street
North Haven, CT 06473

Please RSVP to me so that I know how many are coming.

See you soon!

~Danette

There will be no meeting this week because I'm on work travel.

We'll meet again next month on Weds Nov 9.

~Danette

The August meeting is Weds, Aug 10, from 7:30-9pm.

A local CT girl who stutters, Amanda Mammana, was recently on America's Got Talent. Here's the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQGYv6Khk8E
During this meeting, we will discuss how we feel about how the public views the capabilities of people who stutter.

An NSA member wrote a provocative article, and we will discuss the points she makes:
https://courtingcourage.blogspot.com/2022/07/an-open-letter-to-americas-got-talent.html?fbclid=IwAR3yM30JB788SZxwZ_o2XrQ7pB70jnQxtbrOp8ebpPVbPcy642ve6vM_KGA

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87987608211?pwd=c0R1WU9PaFZ0OUhhaE9qclFSSWhMUT09

Meeting ID: 879 8760 8211
Passcode: 121307

The August meeting is Weds, Aug 10, from 7:30-9pm.

A local CT girl who stutters, Amanda Mammana, was recently on America's Got Talent. Here's the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQGYv6Khk8E
During this meeting, we will discuss how we feel about how the public views the capabilities of people who stutter.

An NSA member wrote a provocative article, and we will discuss the points she makes:
https://courtingcourage.blogspot.com/2022/07/an-open-letter-to-americas-got-talent.html?fbclid=IwAR3yM30JB788SZxwZ_o2XrQ7pB70jnQxtbrOp8ebpPVbPcy642ve6vM_KGA

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87987608211?pwd=c0R1WU9PaFZ0OUhhaE9qclFSSWhMUT09

Meeting ID: 879 8760 8211
Passcode: 121307

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

January joint meeting with the Orlando chapter!

This month we'll have a joint Zoom meeting with the Orlando chapter. Get ready to celebrate the new year by meeting some new people who stutter!

We'll meet Wednesday January 12, from 7-9pm. (or show up whenever you can)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81604218834?pwd=YUVEK0prTkdrY1EvRHk1bGpLZlJ2dz09

Meeting ID: 816 0421 8834
Passcode: 659304

This month celebrates International Stuttering Awareness Day. ISAD is this Friday, Oct 22, but we celebrate all month, with articles and videos about stuttering on this website. Check it out!

https://isad.isastutter.org/

International Stuttering Awareness The International Stuttering Awareness Day, ISAD, (October 22) began in 1998, spear-headed by Michael Sugarman, Oakland, California. ISAD recognizes the growing alliance between SLPs and consumers, who are learning from each other and working together to share, give support, and educate one another....

We had a fun time at our in-person event on Saturday. We shared food and drinks, chatted, and even went kayaking on the river. See attached photos.

Join us at our next Zoom meeting, Oct 13 at 7:30pm, and look out for our next in-person event. See you soon!

~Danette and Alida

Hello all from the NSA national conference in Austin, Texas! Can't wait to get back and talk to all of you!

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, July 14th, from 7:30-9pm.

Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86227290209?pwd=VUJKK2t2YnJYMC9td0Z3ckMvek5Zdz09

See you then!
~Danette

If anyone would like to sign into a CT NSA meeting this week, the Windsor chapter has invited us to attend theirs, on Thursday Feb 11 at 7pm.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/7206714704?pwd=WXE0NzFHQWJiMHMxTXU2d1VhY0xpUT09

Meeting ID: 720 671 4704
Passcode: welcome

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

There will be no February meeting as I am out of town taking care of family medical needs. We'll resume meeting the second Wednesday in March.

Today is International Stuttering Awareness Day! Check out this year's ISAD conference at the link below. A collection of articles and videos about stuttering

https://isad.isastutter.org/

International Stuttering Awareness ISAD 2020 Register Login Forgotten your password? Email us as [email protected] and we will help you reset it. Welcome to the 2020 online conference! Welcome message from Anita Blom. (If browsing the conference on a computer or tablet device, navigate through the conference using the menu at the t...

Next week the NSA will host an open mic. Sign on to listen, talk, and interact with others who stutter!

https://westutter.org/event/september-open-mic/

NSA Connects - September Open Mic - National Stuttering Association Back by popular demand, we kick off this week with another Open Mic! Join host Steve Ernst and use this time to share your story with others in the community. This is a safe space for you to take as long as you need to say what you like.

Conference - National Stuttering Association

Good news! This year the NSA annual conference will be even easier to attend. It Is now a virtual conference, on the evenings of July 7-10. The cost is "pay what you can".

Check out the schedule of events, and register at the link below. For those of you meaning to check out a conference but the travel aspect is challenging, be sure to take advantage of this opportunity this year! Hope to see you there! (And make sure to sign in to the award session on Fri 7/10, wink wink.)

westutter.org While it may look different from our typical conference, NSA@Home will deliver much of what you’ve come to expect. This online event will offer connection, support, and education to people who stutter of all ages through interactive Zoom sessions, keynote conversations, roundtable discussions, gam...

Audacious with Chion Wolf

Our local SLP, Alida Engel, will be interviewed on NPR this Saturday about stuttering! Tune in to "Audacious with Chion Wolf" at 10am to listen to the show.

Tune in on the radio, or via iTunes or Google Podcasts or any of the ways listed on this page:
https://www.wnpr.org/programs/audacious-chion-wolf

wnpr.org Audacious with Chion Wolf will highlight the uncommon experiences of everyday people – asking the hardest, most uncomfortable questions. With curiosity and

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting now

Join the NSA Virtual Lounge tonight between 6pm - 12am to play games, chat, sing or jam, there are many breakout rooms to choose from!

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87101600649?pwd=SVZRKzlJYzdGZHhTU0FuelFBRjZpUT09

us02web.zoom.us Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting now

It's Happy Hour for all Adult Chapters every Friday during May!

Announcing our NSA Chapters Virtual Lounge. Bounce between breakout rooms for Zoom games; Improv; Karaoke; and a few surprises. Chill in the main lounge. See good friends & make new ones.

It's open between 6pm - 12am EST every Friday. Sign on or off whenever you can make it. Here is the link for this Friday's lounge:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87101600649?pwd=SVZRKzlJYzdGZHhTU0FuelFBRjZpUT09

us02web.zoom.us Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

Shared from a fellow NSA member...
Long but worth it... How many of these avoidance behaviors that Joe Biden shows can you relate to?

I mentioned yesterday that I was thinking about doing an explainer about stuttering avoidance behaviors and Joe Biden’s long list of them, and not five minutes later I saw someone on Twitter making fun of him for "forgetting" Barack Obama's name. So that gave me a brain itch and now I can’t focus on anything else until I scratch it.

Plus people seemed interested in reading it, and I am nothing if not a servant of the people. So by popular demand, here's some Friday reading for you.

I guess I should say up front that I've never actually taken a speech pathology course and have no certifications. My expertise in stuttering, such as it is, comes simply from having done it for 35 years and receiving speech therapy for more than two decades such that I'm quite familiar with the terminology. So it's probably unethical for me to be "diagnosing" Joe Biden's speech, or at least it would be if I were certified. But since I'm not, weeee.

Before getting into the specifics, it should be noted that the ultimate goal of most people who stutter -- or, at least, those of us who wouldn't be considered "recovered" -- is to stutter as little as possible. And often the words we stutter on most are so-called "content" words -- words that we *must* say. Names, numbers, words that are integral to a sentence, etc. These all become “feared” words. Words that lead to stuttering.

The goal of stuttering as little as possible leads, paradoxically, to stuttering behaviors. There are two main types of stuttering behaviors -- avoidance behaviors and escape/secondary behaviors.

Escape/secondary behaviors are things a person does during the moment of stuttering in order to get out of said moment of stuttering. This can be any number of things. Over the course of my life, this has included closing my eyes (which I still do), tapping my foot, snapping my fingers, all manner of things not actually related to speaking.

Joe Biden, near as I can tell, doesn't have a ton of these. Granted, I can only see what is shown on television, so he could be doing things like tapping his foot and it just doesn't come across. He closes his eyes during dysfluencies and has subtle facial contortions, as well as a tendency to gesticulate (which could be related, I'm not sure); but from what I can tell his stuttering is almost entirely avoidance behaviors.

Avoidance behaviors are, as the name implies, anything a person does to avoid the act of stuttering. This could be as simple as avoiding speaking altogether, or as subtle as briefly hesitating before a particular word or sound.

There are many types of common avoidance behaviors:

- Postponements: Simply putting off saying a feared word or sound until it comes out fluently. This causes sentences (or multi-syllabic words) to sound disjointed and unnatural.

- Circumlocution: Literally "speaking around." Generally explained as describing a word rather than explicitly saying it.

- Word substitutions: Pretty self explanatory, but substituting a feared word for a word that's easier to say. Sometimes performed in the middle of saying a feared word.

- Filler words: Similar to postponements, words that don't add content but are inserted into speech to postpone the moment of stuttering; such as "uh" or "you know."

- Sentence abandonment: Pulling the ripcord. Recognizing that you're about to stutter and just giving up entirely.

For an example of each of these, take the intended sentence: "I need to go to the grocery store and buy some milk."

Postponement: I need to, go to the, gro...cery store and, buy, some milk.

Word substitutions to avoid Gs and Bs: I need to run to the super market and purchase some milk.

Or, mid-word word substitutions: I need to g-- run to the gr-- super market and b-- purchase some milk.

Circumlocutions (to avoid high-content words): What I need to do is, hop in my vehicle and drive to the place, where they sell food, and purchase some things for breakfast.

Filler words: I need to, uh, go to the, uh, you know, grocery store, and uh, buy some, uh, you know, milk.

Sentence abandonment: I need to go to the gr-- ah nevermind, you don't want to hear about that.

But that's only if you do one avoidance behavior at a time. Many people who stutter, myself included, can, er, multitask. So we might intend to say "I need to go to the grocery store and buy some milk," but it comes out as "I, uh, need to go to the, you know, gr-- super market, to, to purchase some...things we might need for breakfast, maybe like milk."

A simple declarative sentence can quickly unravel into an inefficient, barely intelligible mess.

I've known Joe Biden has stuttered for probably 20 years, but this is the first time he's been on television frequently enough to really experience his stuttering pattern.

And I've noticed dysfluencies before, but as I wrote this I sought out clips of him speaking. Thankfully, ABC New York took every debate answer he's had this year and compiled them into a video, so I was able to watch several consecutive minutes of him speaking. And good grief -- in my unprofessional opinion! -- he has avoidance behaviors *all over the place*.

Now, I'm not a mind reader, so I can't say with certainty what Biden intended to say; but I recognize enough of my own behaviors in his speech that I feel like I can provide an educated guess.

First of all, the "forgetting" of Obama's name. At least twice, he's feigned forgetting Obama's name, instead calling him "the guy I worked for" or "the last one."

I also noticed he once started to say "President Trump," but bailed on "Trump" and ended up saying "President, the current president."

No one actually believes that Joe Biden forgot Barack Obama's name. If he did, he truly would be suffering from some degenerative brain disease that would disqualify him from the presidency. Instead, this is just classic word substitution/circumlocution. Saying the name "Obama" is obviously high-content, and stuttering on it is apparently a matter of high fear for Biden, understandably so; so he'd rather (at best) use a coy indirect reference or (at worst) pretend to have forgotten *the name of the president he worked for* in order to avoid showing stuttering.

Another example of word substitution getting him in trouble was his "record player" comment, where he substituted "record player" in the middle of trying to say "television." I wrote about this at the time, but just to summarize, he said this: "Play the radio, make sure the televisvis-- the, excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night, th-the ph-phone, make sure that kids hear words."

He says "play the radio" perfectly fine, but he needs another example, so he tries to say "make sure the television is on," but he gets stuck on "vision," so he bails. He then tries to come up with something similar to television, and his brain spits out "record player." He obviously realizes that "record player" doesn't make sense, so he tries to correct it by saying "the phone," but he gets stuck on both "the" and "phone." Which to me indicates that he was probably trying to say "the phone" in the first place, but was afraid he was gonna get stuck on it.

The next most noticeable avoidance behavior, to me, is his use of filler words. He inserts things like "look," "the fact is," "in fact," "the fact of the matter," etc. into sentences where it doesn't add anything.

When answering a question about Korean policy, he said: [South Korea] in fact, can, in fact, put pressure on North Korea.

Similarly, he tends to ramble around points, inserting snippets of indirectly related phrases, rather than stating them directly. This often leads to painting himself into rhetorical corners that are awkward to get out of. For example, in fielding a question about his support of the Iraq war, he said "Once we, once Bush abused that power, what happened was, we got elected after that, I made sure, the president turned to me and said, get our troops out of Iraq." Technically there were no dysfluencies there, but there's also no real declarative point.
He also has postponements sprinkled into his statements.

One sentence in particular was rife with them: "I would make sure we invested four...hundred million dollars in new...science and technology...to be the...exporter...not only of...the green economy, but...the economy that can create millions of jobs." Notice how the breaks aren’t between natural phrases, and in some cases split words that should go together, e.g., “four hundred,” “new science,” etc.

He's also shown some pretty epic sentence abandonments. In one debate, he stopped mid-sentence and just said "well my time is up." He obviously had more to say, but chose not to. More recently, he was quoting the Declaration of Independence, and instead of getting bogged down in "endowed with certain inalienable rights," he just said "you know, you know the thing."

I suppose you can choose to believe that a man who has been in politics for 40 years is so senile that he doesn't remember the most famous line in one of our nation's founding documents; but as someone who has been accused on multiple occasions of forgetting his own name, I can assure you it's not what it looks like. Sometimes the desire to avoid stuttering is so strong that we are willing to trade our intellectual dignity for it. It's better in the moment, I suppose, to be thought stupid or senile than to grapple with the fact that we have a neurological condition that makes excruciatingly difficult for us something that is, for most people, perfunctory.

I will also say, there are things that Biden does while speaking that I don't believe technically qualify as avoidance behaviors but are nonetheless related to stuttering. He will often blend his words together, which helps some people prevent the tension that often leads to struggled speech. But if this is too pronounced, it can sound slurry. So I look forward to all of the "is Joe Biden drunk?" conspiracy theories.

He also has a tendency to raise his voice when the moment doesn't really call for it; and speak in a rhythmic, almost sing-songy pattern.

As I said at the beginning, I'm not a professional and this is merely my opinion, but I believe that any time Joe Biden exhibits these behaviors, he's not saying what he wants to say in the way he wants to say it.

As someone who stutters, it's sort of maddening.
The campaign for president is something like a job interview. Whenever I go in for a job interview, I disclose up front that I stutter. I have a whole spiel: "Just so you're aware, I stutter, which is a neurological speech condition, so if you notice me prolonging or repeating sounds or words, or closing my eyes, don't be alarmed. That's just me stuttering."

I don't want to dictate to others how to deal with their stuttering -- we all have our own journeys and negotiate the emotional labyrinth on our own terms. I just wish Joe Biden could have the courage of his convictions to admit he still stutters, and stutter openly. Similarly, I wish he would stop saying that he "overcame" his stuttering; because he clearly hasn't, and speaking of stuttering as something to "overcome" is not helpful.

But at the same time, I get it. I am, as far as I can tell, in complete control of my mental faculties. I'm a classically-trained pianist and a self-taught artist. My command of the English language is how I make my living. And yet if I were tasked with going on television or in front of crowds and expected to convince people to support me politically, God knows the kinds of things people would be saying about my intellect.

Granted, this is only meant to help explain why Joe Biden speaks the way he does on a physical level. Stuttering provides no explanation as to why he has a tendency to, for example, fabricate aspects of his family history or claim to have been arrested protesting apartheid in South Africa. I have no insight into that.

But I will say that Joe Biden is a distinct example of how pervasive and pernicious stuttering can be. He's a man who's endured unspeakable horrors in his life -- losing a wife and child in an accident, as well as another adult child to cancer. The fact that he's able to get out of bed in the morning is courage enough. Nevertheless, he's spent decades in positions of power that require massive amounts of public speaking. Doing that as someone who stutters requires incredible courage. Courage I myself cannot comprehend.

And yet, after all that, to have achieved so much professionally and to currently be within a coin flip of becoming the leader of the free world...he's still afraid to stutter. He would apparently rather be thought of as weird Uncle Joe, who forgets the president's name, than admit he's Joe Biden, the candidate who stutters.

Let's do a game night at Elm City Games. They have loads of board games to choose from, and we can bring our own food and drinks. Which dates do you prefer?

Sat, Mar 7
Sun, Mar 8
Sat, Mar 28
Sun, Mar 29
Sat, Apr 4
Sun, Apr 5
Sat, Apr 18
Sun, Apr 19
Afternoon or evening?

The New Haven chapter met on November 13. We had 3 people in attendance, and great conversations. Join us next month for our holiday dinner on December 11!

International Stuttering Awareness

Today is International Stuttering Awareness Day! Enjoy this year's collection of papers and videos on the ISAD website.

http://isad.isastutter.org/

isad.isastutter.org

The New Haven chapter met on October 16. We had 3 people in attendance, and great conversations. Join us next month on November 13!

This Sunday the group navigated the corn maze at Bishop's Orchards, and then enjoyed some ice cream afterwards. Stay tuned for our next social event which will be a game night!

The New Haven chapter met on September 11. We had 7 people in attendance, and great conversations. Join us next month on October 9 (stay tuned, date may change)!

Is anyone interested in doing a corn maze this month? Lyman or Bishops? Sept 15, 21, 22, 28, or 29?

The New Haven chapter met on August 21. We had 6 people in attendance, including 1 new person. We had great conversations. Join us next month on September 11!

Our group had a summer social at Stony Creek Brewery on Sunday July 14. It was a fun day/evening hanging out in the sun and playing corn hole.

The New Haven chapter met on July 10. We had 6 people in attendance, including 1 new person. We had lots of good discussion and discovering common interests. Join us next month on August 21! (Note schedule change for August, third Wednesday instead of second, due to Danette's work travel.)

This is the New Haven CT chapter basket our chapter is donating to the NSA conference silent auction... Some items to learn about CT attractions and history!

At the ISA conference in Iceland this week, I met a guy who created an app to be useful to people who stutter. To advertise you stutter to people, even if you stutter on saying "I stutter", this is a message you can hold up on your phone. The app is called "Be patient - Let me speak"

World’s largest gathering of people who stutter to meet in Fort Lauderdale

The national conference is coming up and has been given some publicity!

sun-sentinel.com The National Stuttering Association's Annual Conference is being held at the Marriott Beach Resort and Spa in Fort Lauderdale from July 3 to 7. It's the world's largest gathering of people who stutter, with over 800 people expected to attend the weekend of lectures, workshops and excursions.

The New Haven chapter met on June 12. We had 5 people in attendance. There was lots of good discussion and we watched some Stuttering in the Media clips and talked about our reactions. We also have two people attending the National Conference next month!Join us next month on July 10!

Home - Stony Creek Brewery

Let's do a summer social at a brewery! Stony Creek brewery in Branford has a fun outdoor area with firepits, co****le games, and food trucks. Vote in the comments on which dates work for you:

July 13/14
July 20/21
July 27/28
Aug 17/18
Aug 24/25

stonycreekbeer.com Now offering brewery tours, Saturday&Sunday at 2pm and 4pm!!

The New Haven chapter met on May 8. We had 7 people in attendance, including 3 new people. There was lots of good discussion and connecting, so we postponed the Stuttering in the Media activity until next month. Join us next month on June 12!

NATIONAL STUTTERING ASSOCIATION

Happy first day of !

All this week we'll be talking about ways we can all raise awareness of stuttering right in our own communities. Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

1. Add our NSAW Facebook Profile Picture Frame to your profile image.

2. Share our 'Basic Facts About Stuttering' page at work and on social media (available on WeStutter.org).

3. Change your email auto-signature to something stuttering-related.

4. Challenge yourself to do one speech-related thing you’ve been afraid of or reluctant to do.

5. Catch up on our archive of We Stutter @ Work webinars, and consider sharing online.

I have some stuttering books I've already read. Would anyone like to borrow any of these?