[powerpress]
During this episode I interview Pam Mertz from Stutterrockstar.com. Pam has been very involved with the stuttering community for some time now. In this interview we discuss her involvement in the stuttering community. She also discusses her podcasts, “He Stutters, She Asks Him”, and “Women Who Stutter”. She always has great insight on stuttering and has a great story to tell, all the way back to her roots as a covert person who stutters! This is a must listen for the covert stuttering crowd especially. Please leave your comments below! If you leave voice message feedback, please indicate whether you would like the message played during an upcoming podcast.
Thanks, Evan. I was interested in Pam’s stuttering history, which I hadn’t heard…about her blogging, podcast, view of stuttering. It was great. For some reason, it cut off right as she was talking about male podcasts….Anyway, thank you for this. I enjoyed it.
[…] Evan and I have a conversation about involvement in the stuttering community, and the “evolution” of my journey. You can listen to it here. […]
I did not feel left out of the conversation. I let you and the other guest drive the show.
I really enjoy your talk about effective communication and pressure to live up to expectations. I especially like the part about only have a certain amount of time to report in a meeting. Many times, I think that PWS are not only afraid of negative reactions, but afraid of inconveniencing people (e.g., taking too long) as well. Evan, I plan to work in a school when I graduate from my SLP master’s program. Do you have any tips for those kind of situations? Anyone else have approaches for time limits?
Caitlyn
Caitlyn,
I am so sorry that I havent responded to your question. I have been INCREDIBLY busy. I just started a brand new job at a hospital and it has been tough learning the ropes. There are so many situation in the school system where you will need to verbally report. For example, when conferencing with teachers about specific students, or during IEP meetings, or parent/teacher conferences. The best advice I can give to you is to be up front and honest about your stuttering. You know its going to happen, and you will most definitely not be able to hide it, so it is a good idea make sure you put it out there, especially during parent conferences when you have never met the parents. I usually start off my portion of the meeting by saying”by the way I stutter, so if you cant understand me, or if you need me to repeat anything feel free to let me know.” That sort of puts the stuttering out there. It puts both you, and your listener at ease. SInce it makes your more confortable you may find that your stuttering actually decreases a bit and you have an easier time speaking. I notice that all the time. When its out in the open, I no longer feel the need to hide it or feel the anxiety of my listener hearing me stutter…which normally causes me to stutter more. If they already know, then your anxiety decreases, and as we know anxiety exacerbates stuttering. Give it a shot!
Again, my sincerest apologies for taking way way way way to long to respond.
Evan