Stuttering: The Road to Empowerment with Dr. Lee Reeves

Write-up by Jack Sutherland, Penfield, NY- NSA Buffalo Chapter

I was privileged to join with the NSA Buffalo NY Chapter on October 3rd, and to participate in an thought provoking Workshop with Dr. Lee Reeves titled: "Stuttering: The Road to Empowerment". Two friends and myself made the 90 minute drive from Rochester to take part, all three of us being regular attenders of the NSA Rochester chapter - but none of us having participated in an NSA sponsored event outside of our own area before. Paul, Rob and I enjoyed learning the names and stories of each person in the Workshop as Lee encouraged each of us to share a little personal history with the others in the group who came out on this cool fall Saturday morning - "Tell us your name, what was your earliest memory of stuttering, what is your background with the NSA ... and tell us a little of what you hope to get out of this Workshop today.". I figured this simple get-acquainted exercise would last maybe 30 minutes and then we'd get on with the main Agenda. But 60, and then 90 minutes went by, while each person shared whatever they were comfortable with sharing, within this supportive setting of those who were here to acknowledge their stuttering - and clearly each person hoped they would leave feeling more "empowered" and would leave with something that would stay with them in the days and weeks ahead.

I jotted down some notes so I wouldn't forget the names of folks I was meeting for the first time today, and a few details that impressed me from people's stories. I learned that Amanda was an aspiring writer, was working to be more comfortable to interview people over the telephone for her college newspaper, and was pretty new to NSA functions. Bill, a successful graphic artist, lived in Dallas for 25 years and participated in the Dallas Chapter before re-locating to Buffalo - and Bill and I learned we both admire Hal Starbuck's summer resident stuttering clinic that helped us both gain "control" back in the 70's (we attended different summers, but didn't know one another before this workshop). I learned that Ed got on a plane in St. Louis MO to be at this workshop, so he certainly valued what Lee was going to say. I learned that John and Paul were both successful covert stutterers - but both felt connected to this community where others who stutter have very visible blocks and very open tensions.

I enjoyed hearing of the stuttering experiences of Dr. Reeves, including how a speech therapist named Roseanne Clausen steered him to a stuttering support group at Catholic University in Washington DC when he was 16, which would instill a lifelong passion for stuttering self-help - and would lead to him starting a support group in Dallas, and many years later to serve as Board Chair of the National Stuttering Association. Lee is an inspiration to people who stutter, hearing how he achieved his dream to become a practicing veterinarian, and how he continued to confront his stuttering through both clinical and self-help methods while appreciating the benefit of both.

During the Workshop he included a thought provoking exercise that got everyone working in smaller groups, to bring out thoughts about how we as stutters are by definition, Victims. We weren't responsible for our stuttering, we have many thoughts and strong feelings tied in with our stuttering, and we often find that our speech can be a net-negative effect to our life. Lee used the guided questions, and group sharing, to show how we could transition from being a VICTIM ... to becoming a SURVIVOR ... and with some work we could even begin to transition to a THRIVER. We also worked together in our small groups to summarize what we'd like to change about our stuttering, and next about attitude changes about our stuttering. It surprised me how long the list grew as he consolidated our answers to these questions.

We concluded with a reminder of how we can help others who stutter and help ourselves in the process, by taking advantage of NSA local chapters - and regional events like this Workshop - to challenge and encourage others in their journey, to hold one another accountable for speaking related goals and that we open up to others - and find that "Empowerment" can be experienced in the journey.

I'd encourage others to come out to similar Workshops in your own areas. We all need to refocus at times, and events like this one are valuable for novice and NSA veteran alike.

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To learn more about bringing this presentation to your group, contact Lee Reeves plreeves@flash.net