What is in a Name??? Final Day of the workshop in Pune

Today, on the second day of workshop some new faces were there, who were not able to make it on the first day due to personal engagements. The day started with a movie- Courage to speak. Since adults rarely talk about stammering, a lot of suffering of children who stutter, gets brushed under the carpet. But in this movie a little girl, Carolina decides to talk & share her experiences through this documentary. The story begins when Carolina in spite of her severe stutter, decides to participate in the annual debate in Canada. She does it, because she wants to highlight the struggle she was passing through. Role of Society, Family, teachers & other children are explored with great sensitivity & honesty. After the documentary participants share their thoughts on two counts- 1. What memories did the movie bring back? 2.Does Carolina teaches us something to be practiced in our own lives?

Many participants saw a lot of similarities in their childhood experiences in India & what CAROLINA faced in Canada. The movie brought back many emotional moments to the mind of audience & there were many moist eyes. We also felt that courage was the only solution to the problem we were faced with. Gopal gave a presentation about Pune SHG, the beginnings, issues faced, short & long term goals etc. After a break we started with an energiser "Nani Pani". Later we played a participatory game, emphasizing the role of active listing, innner silence & total receptivity during communication.

Then next exercise was about speaking with a relaxed bounce, maintaining eye contact & with a gentle smile on face. After tea we played the "name game", uttering our names with a bounce & smile. Then we noticed that many of us were trying hard not to stutter! So, our next round was that of "Voluntary stuttering" on our names. The challenge was to stutter on our names differently in every round. This put our imagination and creativiy to severe test. But we all performed well. Some of us, started voluntarily and suddenly slipped into a natural stutter! But finally a point came when we all felt quite comfortable with our stuttering ON OUR NAMES.

Next step was to practice saying our names with a gentle bounce and, again with a prolongation.
In between, we watched video clips- Sssstutter and Transcending Stuttering. We talked about Phil Schneider's comment: What hurts us is not our stammering- What hurts is being 'different'. Why do we have to fit in? Why cant we accept that we are different and be at peace with ourselves?

Finally, we shared some web resources, discussed short term plans and dispersed.
Some of the important targets emergings for the group were:
1. We should start within our own job environment, conducting sensitisation sessions etc.
2. Start to work with children who stammer in local schools.
3. Developing our knowledge base about this ill-understood health condition
4. Client reviews of various therapies available in the country.
5. TISA-PUNE should bring out a news letter

It was 7.30 pm by the time we dispersed- but with a great sense of achievement and that "we are not alone in our struggle". We also thanked sincerely the IT firm in Hinjewadi and we are hopeful more and more organisations will take up this cause in the larger interest of their staff, who may be suffering from this health condition.

We want to thank Ms Savita Kulkarni, who enriched the workshop with her insights and inputs, as a person, who does not stammer but empathises with and works for people who are 'different'.

If you have any questions feel free to contact:
Jai Prakash Sunda (09271205627)
s-s-sachin (09412058272)

(I felt so happy that I want to come again and again to Pune! Is any body reading?- sachin)

TISA Pune Workshop - Day 1

Today we met in the well appointed conference hall of an IT firm at Hinjewadi Pune. In spite of all the running around and flurry of emails, we wondered if ten people will get together to watch a movie on stammering. We were sweetly surprised when about 20 people turned up- including three women. Stammering is a communication problem which affects about 1-2% population any where. Women are affected less often compared to men, in a ratio of 1 to 4. Pune self help group started under TISA aegis about an year ago. The Indian stammering association (TISA) started in April 2008 as a self help movement of Indian people who stammer (PWS). The today's (4th July 2009) workshop was organised by Pune chapter of TISA to consolidate the gains so far, generate interest and awareness on an issue which affects academics, career choices and growth, relationships and other aspects of life.
We started with the screening of a movie – Unspeakable. Many participants related to the movie instantly as it brought back strong memories of difficulties faced as children, adolescents and now as adults. This Canadian documentary interweaves stories of men, women and children who stammer against the backdrop of an ongoing search for cause and cure for a baffling neurological disorder. The participants shared their feelings and reactions after the movie. This set the ball rolling and everyone was soon sharing personal stories of struggle, search for understanding and a determination to come on top of the problem. The organiser, a IT professional, shared : In trying to organise this event, I have done what I would never do: I went out on a limb, talked to strangers and even superiors – refused to take 'no' for an answer, took risks, made many phone calls- I feel I have gained in three days more than I would have gained in one whole year of speech therapy. I have changed deeply at the level of attitude and self-concept... Many of my colleagues were surprised: a workshop on Dandruff or Acne would be OK but a workshop on stammering?..Some people even inquired: what is stammering?
Dr Sachin from TISA discussed technical aspects of stammering. There were lot of questions and answers. There were some participants who did not stammer but had come to learn about it and help others. A video clip of an Interview of Ms Julia Irani was shared. Julia heads Pakistan stammering association. The group played interactive games as well as practiced some speech techniques. Finally the group realised that in spite of differences in their background, education and career they had remarkable similarities in life experiences because of their stammering. As stammering is a social disorder, the recovery too had to be a social process. They concluded with a decision to continue to help each other through the self help group and to continue to work on their communication, having accepted their stammer. We will meet tomorrow again.

Onward TISA soldiers!

I have landed safely in Pune. Was picked up by Gopal and JP for a long ride..to Hinjewadi.
While JP dealt with last minute checks and rechecks.. I prepared a synopsis of the movie (Unspeakable).. Responded to emails.. Gopal dropped in, in the evening; He had made slides, to which JP and I contributed our thoughts.
By the way- it rained off and on- and the weather has become so nice. A perfect climate to stutter!
Oh, it is infectious. No, not the stutter, but the enthusiasm generated by our team..

Pune Chalo!

If you are in Pune or in the vicinity on 4th and 5th July- feel free to get in touch with JP (9271205627) or sachin (09412058272) and drop in for a movie show and an open session for discussion on stammering (and lots more)..And if you cant, for some reason, never mind. Keep checking this space for the the news and updates..

Pune SHG get together 4- 5th July

The venue for the Pune Self Help Group get together on 4th and 5th July 2009 is an Information Technology firm at Rajiv Gandhi IT Park, phase - 1, Hinjewadi, Pune. Call me for details and registrations.

There has been slight modification in the agenda. Now the movies are not on a single day but one movie per day.

This is the Agenda:

4^th July:
>10 am to 1 pm: Screening of "Unspeakable" - a movie on stammering made by John Paskievich, a PWS in Canada. It will be followed by analysis, discussion and explanation by Sachin. Followed by an Q&A session

>4pm to 7 pm: Sachin will be available for free personal consultation (specific techniques and counseling).

>5^th July:
>10 am - 1 pm: Screening of “Speaking of Courage” a movie about stammering among children, followed by analysis and discussion. Followed by an Q&A session

>4pm to 7 pm: Personal consultation and organizational discussion with Coordinator and those who are interested in a long term involvement with TISA and Pune SHG. Followed by interaction with media.

J P Sunda

9271205627

Chennai reports

Dear friends,
In the Chennai chapter meeting held on 28th June, 17 PWS were attended including 5 new PWS.

First of all I wish to thank KA who came from Hyderabad to attend the meet. My thanks also to Miss.S and her brother P who came from Virudunagar (550 kms fom Chennai) along with their mother to attend the meeting.

A visible improvement have been noticed from everyone. After 6 months they have now started accepting their stammering and are less sensitive towards it. Free to convey whatever they like to say.

Half an hour class was taken for the 5 new PWS with the help of past materials. Miss.S is very receptive and promised to work consistently or next 6 month. Master.P is a bright boy and hope he will be alright in one year.

Everyone spoke for about 5 to 10 minutes. Now I see that every PWS showing interest in this group and wanted to help other PWSs. I adviced them to form a small groups of about 3-5 PWS and meet once in every week or at least speak over phone. I hope Chennai chapter has finally come off and
has shown real interest and wanted to do something for TISA.

I thank all the PWS who attended the above meet. That's all from Chennai chapter. Bye.
Regards,

V. Manimaran
Mobile: 098842 89989

Congratulations, Mani ! (sachin)

TISA Pune Get together: 4-5th July

Pune Chapter of TISA is organising a two day get-together. Here are the planned highlights.
4th July:
10 am to 1 pm: Screening of "Unspeakable" - a movie on stammering made by John Paskievich, a PWS in Canada. It will be followed by analysis, discussion and explanation by Sachin. Followed by an Q&A session
4pm to 7 pm: Screening of “Speaking of Courage” a movie about stammering among children, followed by analysis and discussion. Followed by an Q&A session

5th July:
10 am - 1 pm: Sachin will be available for free personal consultation (specific techniques and counseling).
4pm to 7 pm: Personal consultation and organisational discussion with Coordinator and those who are interested in a long term involvement with TISA and Pune SHG. Followed by interaction with media.

PWS, Familes, Friends and children are welcome to attend the session.
JP will announce the venue soon.

Breaking the next barrier

Yesterday I had a great experience, and I want to share that with you all.

I’ve told you earlier that I work in a software product development company as a project manager. Yesterday we had to give a demo/sales presentation of our new product on Knowledge Management, to a leading private insurance company HQed in Gurgaon.

The team consisted of a sales guy, a marketing guy (the engagement manager for that client, an engineer and a subject matter expert). At that last moment the subject matter expert (SME) had to opt out of the demo and I had no choice but to go as a SME.

I’ve attended umpteen meeting with clients but never participated a sales presentation and here I have to lead the team. Anyways I decided to take it as a challenge and went ahead.

At the demo, there were three people from client side, headed by a VP, a rather good-looking female – making me even more nervous. The sales guy gave the presentation, and the marketing guy gave the demo. During the presentation and demo they had some questions which were mostly answered by the sales and marketing guys, I had to interrupt only a couple of times. But after the demo they had many questions and somehow their focus turned towards me, they were directing all their questions to me and I was replying.

It was enthralling. It’s not that I didn’t stutter; I stuttered but I never let it affect me. I wasn’t shy or ashamed of stuttering, and always finished what I wanted to say. And it reinforced my belief that if what I am speaking is important to people, they’ll listen to me no matter how much I stuttered.

After the meeting I felt on top of the world. This might be a small step for mankind, but was a giant leap for me :-)

Cheers

Nitin

Stammering and enlightenment!

Eckhart Tolle is a contemporary spiritual teacher in the west, who talks of the timeless truths in a modern and non-sectarian language. His teaching can be put briefly thus: Become alive to the present moment. This transcends mind and you become one with who you truly are- behind the mind.

PWS often feel like outsiders, wherever they go. A CWS talked about feeling like being outside a room and looking in through the glass pane- the party is going on- but whatever he says cant be heard by others inside because of the glass- And, of course he can hear others clearly; Some kind of one way glass, where sound is concerned! Are we the only ones- square pegs in round holes of life? Obviously not. Here is a question and answer from the book: The power of Now. A great work. Later I have just switched some words, and it makes perfect sense to us, the PWS. Check below for yourself!

Question: In the quest for enlightenment, is being gay a help or a hindrance, or does it not make any difference ?
Answer: As you approach adulthood, uncertainty about your sexuality followed by the realization that you are “different” from others may force you to dis identify from socially conditioned patterns of thoughts and behavior. This will automatically raise your level of consciousness above that of the unconscious majority, whose members unquestioningly take on board all inherited patterns. In that respect, being gay can be a help. Being an outsider to some extent, someone who does not “fit in” with others or is rejected by them for whatever reason makes life difficult, but it also places you at an advantage as far as enlightenment is concerned. It takes you out of unconsciousness almost by force.

On the other hand, if you then develop, a sense of identity based on your gayness, you have escaped one trap only to fall into another. You will play roles and games dictated by a mental image you have of yourself as gay. You will become unconscious. You will become unreal. Underneath your ego mask, you will become very unhappy. If this happens to you, being gay will have become a hindrance. But you always get another chance, of course. Acute happiness can be a great awakener.

For PWS
Answer: As you approach adulthood, uncertainty about your speech followed by the realization that you are “different” from others may force you to dis identify from socially conditioned patterns of thoughts and behavior. This will automatically raise your level of consciousness above that of the unconscious majority, whose members unquestioningly take on board all inherited patterns. In that respect, being a stutterer can be a help. Being an outsider to some extent, someone who does not “fit in” with others or is rejected by them for whatever reason makes life difficult, but it also places you at an advantage as far as enlightenment is concerned. It takes you out of unconsciousness almost by force.

On the other hand, if you then develop, a sense of identity based on your stutter, you have escaped one trap only to fall into another. You will play roles and games dictated by a mental image you have of yourself as a stutterer. You will become unconscious. You will become unreal. Underneath your ego mask, you will become very unhappy. If this happens to you, being stutterer will have become a hindrance. But you always get another chance, of course. Acute happiness can be a great awakener.

Check out more about Eckhart Tolle:
http://www.inner-growth.info/power_of_now_tolle/eckhart_tolle_home.htm

Mumbai meets..

Dear Friends,
TISA Mumbai Chapter is going to conduct its next get together. The details of the get together follow:

Venue :Baji Prabhu Udyan,
Veer Savarkar Road,
Near Shivaji Park,
Dadar(W),Mumbai.

Date :28 June 2009; Time : 6.00 p.m.

Regards,
Vikas Bindal
Mob. No: +91 9769992475
E. Mail: vikasb.gmay08@spjain.org ; bindal.v@gmail.com

Chennai SHG Meeting

Dear Friends,
The next Chennai chapter meeting to overcome stammering will be held on 28th
June form 4 PM to 7 PM in the following venue.

MINI CONFERENCE HALL,
Y.W.C.A.INTERNATIONAL GUEST HOUSE,
#1086, E.V.R.PERIYAR SALAI
(POONAMALLI HIGH ROAD),
(NEAR DINATHANTHI OFFICE)
CHENNAI-600084.
Pl come prepared with a 5 min story.

Regards,
V. Manimaran
Mobile: 098842 89989

Human Resource Development in action

The three day intensive at Samagra took on a different shape and some good things have come out of it: we had sent a formal invitation and schedule to a participant from Lucknow; He was a little late but he applied to his HR department and was granted permission, to take up this course whenever it is organised next at company cost..

It was very heartening- but, then, not so surprising. Communication is an important dimension of work place. Any HRD worth its salt, would do anything to promote better communication and self development of its human resource. So, what is our (PWS's) role in all this:

1. We should accept that we are facing a communication problem-
2. That we can and want to do something about it..
3. We approach a senior colleague / HR unit with open-ness and request their help..

Finally, if there are more than one PWS, we should start a Self Help group on the premises- but of course not during the work hours.. I have discovered that working for other PWS selflessly is the best way of self therapy..

Harry Potter and Stuttering

I read somewhere that in Harry Potter movie (perhaps there are more than one and I am completely ignorant about series) one character Professor Quirrell stutters and he has been portrayed in a way that strengthens the negative stereotypes about stuttering. Looking to the fact that children constitute majority of viewers, many CWS (who are more in number than PWS in any case) can feel hurt and sink further into frustration and self blame game. Has any one seen this movie?

Akash

New website for stammering

Hi,

As you all know we had planned for an intensive therapy camp at Samagra Ashram, Dehradun for 13th – 15th June; due to various reason that camp couldn’t go through. I was kinda depressed due to that, and seeing that Sachin sir invited me to Ashram, and I decided to go there with my family.

That must count amongst some of the best decisions I have ever made. I got to meet Dr. Sachin, his staff and their patients. These guys are wonderfully and selflessly doing a tremendous job. They are based in a suburb of Dehradun and work amongst the rural section of society. There I realized how fortunate we are to have access to various resources related to speech therapy/stuttering, and what an excellent work Dr. Sachin and his team doing by making available those resources to people in vicinity.

There we discussed how useful a web-site as a centralized resource repository will be for us stutterers. We visualized the web-site as a place where PWS can discuss and share their experiences, various therapies/method they practice, and other things. A place where PWS can collaborate to face their stuttering. A place where they can find resources (reading material, videos, audios) for speech therapy. A place where people can schedule voice chat with others.

We have taken the first step in this direction; we have registered a web site www.stammer.in and bought some hosting space. Now the real task begins, that of creating and publishing content. For this we are looking for volunteers, who will work under Sachin sir’s guidance. Right now we have three volunteers – Anup Nagrath (Delhi), Amith (Bangalore) and myself. We need some more, so please come forward and help the stuttering community.

I am looking forward to the people who have been regular contributors to the blog and yahoo group – Kiran, Akash, Mani sir, Jaiprakash, Ajit and others. Come on guys, let’s make it happen.

Cheers

Nitin

Thanks DNA and thanks Mumbai Chapter

Thank you Ajit, for sharing this! Absolutely heart warming!

Mumbai get together !

Dear Friends,
TISA Mumbai Chapter is going to conduct its next get together.Kindly find the details of the get together given below,

Venue :Baji Prabhu Udyan,
Veer Savarkar Road,
Near Shivaji Park,
Dadar(W),Mumbai.

Date :14 June 2009

Time :5:30 p.m.

Activities Of The Get Together are,

1)Introduction.(Only Names)
2)Breathing Exercises
3)Voice Modulation
4)Group Reading
5)Speaking On a Topic
6)Detail Introduction
7)Sharing Experiences
8)Deciding the date and venue of next get together.

Note:Any suggestions are most welcomed.

------------------
Thanks & Regards,
Ajit Potdar,
9930066424,
TISA-Mumbai Chapter,

Good old mirror practice!

Mr Mani Maran from Chennai very kindly forwarded this interesting post; It is based on the idea, that when we stutter, we are not aware of what we are doing incorrectly. Mirror can give this feedback and help us regain the control..

"Hello Friends,

It's been a while since I have posted. I wanted to share my recent experience of how I am overcoming stuttering. Though reading some books and what not my stuttering vastly improved.

I recently got a new computer that has a video camera so I was making some video's and to send to my Dad to show him how much my stuttering improved. I noticed I never struggled with stuttering at all when I was making the video. I was not even following a script, so I basically started to play around with it and make video's for fun. I typically read once a day out loud and record it on my iphone if nothing else to give me confidence when my confidence is low regarding my talking.

I spent several days trying to figure out why I performed so well on the video. Not that I was not performing well when I was reading to myself. But I noticed that something was different. I soon figured out it was because I was watching my lips move and I was not allowing myself to see myself stutter.

So I decided to try on this on something I have not been overcome regarding the stuttering. The phone. So I bought some small mirrors from my local craft store and called some of my friends and watching my mouth and lips move as I talked and I did not struggle over the phone at all. For me that is a very big deal as if I am going to stutter it is going to be over the phone.

When I watching my mouth and lips move I seem to know what it should look like and how they should move when I say certain words. I don't understand this, but when I don't use the mirror I am much more prone to stutter. I think with this technique I will eventually train myself to speak with 100% fluency.

I am not saying this will work for everyone. Maybe you have to have a certain amount of confidence in your speech already built in for it to work. But it has worked for me and I have been doing it for a week.

Matthew"

Correct knowledge helps.

In most chronic health conditions, sufferer goes beyond the tradiitonal / rational ways and seeks relief. Stammering is no exception. A reader has sent the following instructions he was given to reduce his stammering:
1.Rub almond oil on your tongue because your tongue is fat.
2.Go to park and speak with plants and tree.
3.Daily jump for 5 minutes from your feet in the morning.
4.Eat 100 gram of black Channai(peanuts) in the morning.
5.Daily gargle with hot water in the morning,so that my throat muscle will be strong.
6.Eat mulaiti,and vach(Ayurveda medicine).
7.Blow big balloon (birthday balloon)for 10 minutes.
8.Put a candle near about 1 feet,light it and try to blow off by your applying air on candle.

The response of an American SLP to the above was:
" Thanks for sharing. These recommendations are absolutely
> ridiculous. There is no nice way of saying it. I agree that
> its unfortunate that this person is working with people who
> stutter, because these strategies completely ignore years of
> research in the treatment of stuttering. "

Ideas for SHG

Here are some ideas for conducting SHG meetings; Please adapt them to your needs. Experiment with new ideas.

SN	Activity	Purpose / benefit	Facilitator's role	Approx Time
1	Preliminaries: 1. Welcome everyone with warmth. 2. Make them sit in a circle 3. Tell them briefly what you are going to do today and what time meting is expected to be over.	Sitting in circle promotes equality and better communication	Make adjustments to ensure everyone is comfortable (a girl may want to sit with another girl rather than a stranger..)	10-15 minutes
2	Introductions: You can do it in two rounds: 1. People just tell their name only, demonstrating their popular speech technique (I would say- my name is s-s-s-sachin. This is called bouncing.) 2. In second round everyone can speak a few more words about themselves/ their work/ their hobbies/ families etc.	Everyone should get to know one another's first name and be comfortable using it.	Make sure that people dont use more than allotted 2 minutes for the second round. No one should interrupt, prompt, help or correct others. Let group cheer when each member finishes speaking.	20-30 minutes
3	Reading together: Have photocopied text for this purpose. Ask 4-5 members to read same text together after counting “1,2,3”.	This will make most PWS to be fluent and feel better as a result.	Group people with similar personalities (age , gender) together- making sure that they dont feel intimidated by others.	20-30 minutes
4	Reading in twos or alone (as above) same text	This will be a little bit more difficult but many PWS will rise to the challenge and will feel more confident having succeeded at it.	Make sure people dont exceed allotted time. Afterwards, ask them to share their feelings: how did they feel reading alone in a group?	20-30 minutes
5	Conclusion 1) Thank them. 2) Remind them three TISA vows (1. I accept myself with my stutter. 2. I accept others who stutter. 3. I will try to serve other PWS). 3) Agree on venue, time and agenda for the next meet. 4) Say Good bye!	The three vows are the philosophical foundation of TISA. They promote better attitude.	Be as participatory / democratic as possible while deciding venue, time and agenda. But if no progress is being made and time is short, take the initiative and decisions, as the Chapter coordinator.	20 minutes.
				Total~ 2 hrs
NB: Item 1 & 2 above may change or become brief after the group has been meeting for sometime regularly. 3 & 4 above are the core activities which should be changed with other relevant activities in every meeting (See TISA Manual in the file section of Yahoo group “IPWS” for more examples). The most important thing is to encourage people to talk, and to praise them when they do talk. Make sure that everyone relaxes and talks.

Delhi TISA Meet

Hi,

We will be meeting tomorrow i.e. 06-June-2009. Details are:

Venue: Central Park, Connaught Place, New Delhi
Time: 3:00 PM onwards

Anybody who wants to joins us, give me a call at 98183 50799.

Cheers

Nitin

IBN takes up stammering..

Here is an online IBN program on stammering..I have not been able to see it. Can some one review it and write a post? have they been able to go beyond the stereotypes and look deeper?
http://features.ibnlive.in.com/zindagilive_view.php?content_id=89568&id=0

Three day intensive

A three day Intensive Speech therapy program for stammering is being organised by The Indian Stammering Association (TISA) and Samagra in collaboration from 13^th to 15^th June 2009. Based on positive experiences in west, it is being organised by recovering stammerers with technical help from a speech therapist. It focuses on three core aspects of stammering: motor skills, emotions and cognitive aspect.

Here is the schedule:

13^th June

Forenoon: Screening of "Unspeakable" - a movie on stammering made by John Paskievich, a PWS in Canada. It will be followed by analysis, discussion and explanation by resource persons.
Afternoon: Story telling- based on principles of adult learning. We will share our life stories and discuss what we have learned in the process. What our problem is and how have we dealt with it. Do we need to change our response? Etc.
14^th June
Forenoon: Divide in 2-3 sub-groups and present one aspect of therapy, as we may have experienced or learned : Fluency shaping, Stuttering modification, Cognitive and affective approaches, self concept, spiritual aspect etc. Emphasis would be on guided intense practice. Followed by Q & A.

Afternoon: Use of Video recording, playback and analysis in self therapy. Dealing with secondary behaviors and improving body language. Mock interviews with invited guests.

Screening of “Speaking of Courage” a movie about stammering among children, followed by analysis and discussion.

15^th June

Forenoon: Stammering and self concept, Attitude to communication, relationships and life in general (Presentation, discussion). Stammering in workplace. What can we do? Individual goal setting with help from counselor. Role of self help group and how to start one.

Three minute presentations by participants on any topic.

Afternoon: Why speech therapy sometimes fails? What should we keep in mind during self therapy to avoid slipping back? On line resources; setting up of buddy system to provide on line follow up and support after leaving.

Board and Lodge

The workshop is free. Only Board and lodge has to be paid for as per the choice and availability. Samagra can provide shared accommodation and vegetarian meals for Rs 200 per person per day. Total seats are 12. Please confirm your participation by 5^th June in writing to Nitin (Delhi) or Sachin (Dehradun).

Venue: Samagra Ashram, Herbertpur, Dehradun

Dr S K Srivastava, Coordinator – TISA
satksri@rediffmail.com, Ph: 09412058272

Mr Nitin Tomer,Coordintaor- Delhi Chapter, TISA
ntomer@newgen.co.in, 09818350799

Chennai meet

Dear friends,
The Chennai chapter meet on 31.05.2009 was attended by 9 PWS. The regular 4 PWS are on summer vacation and could not attend the meeting. A new PWS by the name of Alwyn Richards attended the meet.

As usual, we started with 5 min speech by everyone and asked Alwyn Richards to speak in the last so that by the time he will come into the comfort zone and he did. When, I told some incidents which I had read on the web, to understand more about stammering. I firmly believe that when we understand more and more about stammering, it is easier for us to tackle it. A couple of incidents I told are reproduced below.

...To attend a course in NSA, a PWS must be a severe stammerer. A severe stammerer wanted to join the course in NSA. Having come to know that only severe Stammerers are allowed to attend the above course, he decided to stammer more severely at the time of interview. Alas during interview he spoke well, with mild stammer only. The interview panel informed him that this course is for severe Stammerers and not for mild Stammerers like you and denied admission to him. THAT IS STAMMERING.
A PWS woman of 2 children aged 30 yrs is ready sacrifice any thing in lieu of normal speech. One day a SLP told her that if you are not able to listen your own voice (ie deaf), you wont stammer. To prove his point, the SLP put head phones into her ears which supply loud noise. The SLP simultaneously recorded her voice. When the women heard the recorded her voice, she got stunned that she is speaking normally. She prayed to the God that she wanted to become deaf. After few months, she was detected as a cancer patient. After giving chemotherapy treatment for 2 years, she became completely deaf. She was able to speak well without stammering. But she unable to hear her children's voice, music etc. She started crying that I made a mistake and now I want free from deaf in lieu of stammering. THAT IS STAMMERING
In a book "Redefining Stuttering" (about 450 pages) by John C Harrison, he informed at the end of the book, his life after overcoming stuttering was same as when he was stuttering. THAT IS STAMMERING.

Then we called Dr.Sachin over mobile and some of the PWS have spoken over to him. Dr.Sachin has given some advises to the PWS. That's all from Chennai chapter. Bye now.
V. Manimaran
Mobile: 098842 89989

The dog and it's tail

In last few months I've talked to a lot of stutterers, and I've found that most of them are letting their lives controlled by their stuttering. It has become the proverbial tail that wags the dog.

In my opinion, the first step towards controlling stuttering will be to give it only it's due importance. Life goes much beyond stuttering and we must learn to feel pride in whatever we've achieved. I believe it'll go a long way in changing pur persona and will help in our speech :-)

Cheers

Nitin

Nepal Stutters Association

It is so nice to know that our friends in Nepal have a national organization devoted to people who stammer. It is heartening to know that they have been well organized and active since 2001.. They have a beautiful website. Please check out.
http://www.nsa.org.np
Sanjay Kumar Jha is the president. We hope that someday, we will be able to collaborate. By the way, Dr Akash is trying to get in touch with other organization and individuals- ie. he is networking on behalf of TISA..

Pune SHG Meet

This week’s meet is at Peshve park, 3:00 p.m. , Sunday (31 May). For the next week’s meet, hopefully we will have some indoor space.

Agenda for this week:

1. Slow reading.

2. Speak on a topic (“What you did this week” or “About your Job” or “Any experience you want to share” or Any other thing you are interested in).

3. Question answer round.

4. Impromptu speech.

5. Group discussions.

Jai Prakash, Coordinator PUNE SHG

Mumbai meets

Dear Friends,
Kindly find the details of the next meeting given below,

Venue:Shivaji Park,Dadar
Date :24 May 2009
Time :6:30 p.m.

-------
Thanks & Regards,
Ajit Potdar,
9930066424,
TISA-Mumbai.

Chennai meet

Dear friends,
The next Chennai Chapter monthly meeting will be held on 31.05.2009 ( not 24.05.2009) from 4 PM to 7 PM at YWCA mini conference hall. A lot of information will be taught in this class which will give new insight about stammering. If we are able to know about stammering well, we can easily tackle it.
Pl make use of this opportunity.
Regards,
V. Manimaran
Mobile: 098842 89989

Rumblings of a SHG from Banglore

A Self help group is about to take off through the initiative of Amithap and Dr Munishankar. This is a great beginning. We wish them God speed and all the best.

Do what you love!

Work and relationships are an important part of our lives. In fact, we constitute more than ninety percent of our self-concept based on these two areas: what we do, for whom we do, people we care about etc. Both these dimensions are consistently affected by our stammer. Many of us want to go in a certain profession, but end up somewhere else- simply because this other job is considered not to be communication-intensive. And then, spend rest of our lives thinking- wish I could have done that- not this!
So, Here is good news! You can do anything and everything: check this excellent website, referred by Ajit, who coordinates Self help group in Mumbai. Than you, Ajit!
http://www.stammeringlaw.org.uk/employment/jobs.htm