Daniele Rossi is a CSA Board member and a frequent contributor to the CSA website and newsletter. He recently attended the National Stuttering Association conference in Ft. Worth, Texas.
My advice to stutterers everywhere: get to a stuttering conference!
They are vital. You make instant friendships with the nicest, bravest people.
You hang out, you have dinner together, you share stuttering inside jokes and you meet more stutterers from all over the country.
You support each other, EVERYONE maintains eye contact and lets you finish. And it’s not a problem.
For a few days, you’re in a stuttering oasis where it actually feels awesome to stutter. And it is!
You meet fellow stutterers of all ages, shapes, sizes, backgrounds and everyone is cool and friendly. We all stutter together.
And when you return home, you’re on a pleasant high. You can achieve anything because we’ve got your back!
You look forward to the next conference because it’s a family reunion.
I think stuttering conferences play a significantly positive, productive and vital role in a stutterer’s life as you share experiences with others who know exactly how it feels to stutter.