Grace McMahon, 16 years old, attending her 7th FRIENDS convention
Grace McMahon, 16 years old, joins Peter Reitzes at the FRIENDS18th annual convention in Raleigh, North Carolina. Grace is attending her 7th FRIENDS convention this summer. Ms. McMahon discusses tearing down the fears of stuttering, stuttering openly, speaking to her entire school about stuttering and her change from focussing on fluency all the time to working on stuttering openly and being happy with herself. Grace shares how both she and her parents have moved from wanting fluency to embracing that stuttering is okay. Grace has a brother who stutters and shared during this episode that “We both stuttering openly; it’s pretty great.”
Del Siegmund joins Peter Reitzes at the FRIENDS18th annual convention in Raleigh, North Carolina. Del is the father of a 14 year old boy who stutters. The Siegmunds attend the FRIENDS convention every summer. Mr. Siegmund talks with deep appreciation about the confidence and support that FRIENDS has provided his son who stutters.
Natalie Bragan joins Peter Reitzes to discuss stuttering on the television show Orange is the New Black.
SPOILER ALERT: Today we discuss the television show Orange is the New Black, episode seven of season three, which is titled Tongue Tied. If you have not seen this episode yet you may want to stop and turn off this podcast because there will be spoilers.
Natalie Bragan is a Financial Analyst/Managing Staff Accountant for the State of Maine and a member of the Maine chapter of the National Stuttering Association.
Christopher Constantino joins Peter Reitzes to discuss a current story in the news of passing as black and how this may relate to passing as fluent and passing as stuttering. Chris and Peter begin by discussing the Rachel Dolezal story and move quickly into stuttering topics such as when stuttering is a disadvantage and when it may be an advantage, people who attempt to pass as stuttering, “normal” speakers using voluntary stuttering to get a small taste of the stuttering experience and much more.
Christopher Constantino is a person who stutters and a PhD student in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Memphis. Chris is doing his clinical fellowship in the Shelby County Schools in Memphis and is conducting a research study to understand and contextualize the experiences of passing as fluent for people who covertly stutter. Chris will be hosting some StutterTalk episodes this summer from the International Fluency Association’s World Congress in Portugal, July 6-8.
John Coakley playing with his band Dirty Wings at the Mercury Lounge in New York City
John Coakley joins Peter Reitzes for this very special episode. John is the first person who stutters that Peter ever met. They discuss meeting in college and how difficult stuttering was for both of them at this time. John was very overt at the time and Peter was passing as fluent. John is asked about his style of talking openly and humorously about stuttering at poetry readings, about a recent study on stuttering and rhythm perception, being a drummer who also stutters, disability and impairment, deciding when participating in the stuttering community is productive for an individual, a recent Ed Sheeran speech on stuttering, the messages we project to children about stuttering and much more.
John Coakley is an Archivist, Drummer, and Photographer who lives in New York City’s East Village with his amazing wife and two confounding, yet ultimately lovable, cats. His band is called Dirty Wings and his photography can be found on the Etsy shop Postcards From NYC.
Christopher Constantino joins Peter Reitzes to discuss disability rights and disability studies and how they may intersect with speech-language pathology and self help for people who stutter. During the second half of today’s episode, Mr. Constantino is asked about his research on passing as fluent (known to some as covert stuttering). Chris suggests that passing as fluent may be less an oppression of authenticity and more a power move to access able-bodied privilege. Mr. Constantino describes this analysis as “returning agency to the person.” Chris suggests that passing as fluent may be more of a “resistance” to dominant discourses than a repression of an authentic self.
Christopher Constantino is a person who stutters and a PhD student in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Memphis. Chris is doing his clinical fellowship in the Shelby County Schools in Memphis and is conducting a research study to understand and contextualize the experiences of passing as fluent for people who covertly stutter. Chris will be hosting some StutterTalk episodes this summer from the International Fluency Association’s World Congress in Portugal, July 6-8.
StutterTalk® is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to talking openly about stuttering. StutterTalk is the first and longest running podcast on stuttering. Since 2007 we have published more than 700 podcasts which are heard in 180 countries.
17 Jul 2015
Stuttering Openly and Seeing What Happens at the FRIENDS Convention (Ep. 539)
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Grace McMahon, 16 years old, joins Peter Reitzes at the FRIENDS 18th annual convention in Raleigh, North Carolina. Grace is attending her 7th FRIENDS convention this summer. Ms. McMahon discusses tearing down the fears of stuttering, stuttering openly, speaking to her entire school about stuttering and her change from focussing on fluency all the time to working on stuttering openly and being happy with herself. Grace shares how both she and her parents have moved from wanting fluency to embracing that stuttering is okay. Grace has a brother who stutters and shared during this episode that “We both stuttering openly; it’s pretty great.”