A local NSA support group chapter meeting is like any other meeting you've ever attended. This section only provides guidelines for how to run a typical meeting. Feel free to improvise as necessary.
There are fundamentally two different kinds of chapter meetings:
Large ones - requires more structure and formality.
Small ones - can be very unstructured and very informal.
A "large meeting" can be approximately 12 people or more. Some chapters have reported as many as 60 people at a single meeting! It's a nice problem to have, but meetings over 30 people can become VERY unwieldy!
A "small meeting" is less than about 12 people. Typically these meetings become informal "bull sessions" with a heavy emphasis on support. If one member is facing a crisis, this is the perfect place to get LOTS of support.
Let's take an example of a large meeting agenda and we'll go from there. Typically a "facilitator" is chosen ahead of time who prepares a brief discussion topic relating to stuttering. (See "100 Things To Do" and "Chicken and Alligators" for lots of suggestions on topics.) The facilitator can be anyone, a member or the chapter leader - even an outside guest speaker.
7:00 PM Call to order
7:01 PM The NSA Welcoming Words are read.
7:05 PM The chapter leader makes short opening remarks and welcomes everyone.
7:10 PM People "go around the room" (gasp!) and introduce themselves. No one is REQUIRED to speak if they don't want to! It's nice to add some short additional information here such as how your last month went or something very positive like "what is the very best thing that happened to you last month?" You can really go around the room in sequence or do "popcorn" introductions where each person who speaks gets to call on the next person totally randomly. Keep this activity FUN! You need to watch your time here. A very large meeting will require very short introductions to keep this part of the meeting on schedule.
8:00 PM The facilitator is introduced and he gives a short presentation on the topic of his choice.
8:10 PM The main group splits up into breakout groups for further discussions on the topic. A breakout group should contain between 4 and 7 people. These breakout groups give people more chances to talk, which is the primary goal of the entire meeting. Stutterers LOVE to talk! [smile] Remember if a person leaves a meeting without speaking, he will consider the meeting a failure and you'll never see him again.
8:45 PM The groups get back together and the facilitator polls each group for significant ideas and discussions for his or her group.
8:55 PM Closing comments from the facilitator or chapter leader. A facilitator for the next meeting is selected and any business items are briefly discussed.
9:00 PM The closing words are read and the meeting is adjourned.
Using that fundamental structure you can easily mold it for small meetings. If there are less than 8 people at a meeting (a very common occurrence), breakout sessions are generally not necessary. Everyone stays together for the entire meeting. In a small meeting, it is common that a single person may have an important issue taking place in his life that needs to be discussed NOW. Don't ever be afraid to throw your entire prepared topic/outline out of the window and concentrate on supporting that one individual. Some of the best meetings are exactly like this. Flexibility is the key to running one of these meetings.
The NSA doesn't favor one type of stuttering therapy over another. But one type of meeting you should AVOID is a "group therapy" meeting where an SLP (or anyone) attempts to give a pet stuttering therapy to the entire group. Therapy belongs in a therapy environment, not an NSA chapter meeting. The key word here is "reasonable."
Typically an NSA chapter meeting is open to anyone who stutters, a family member or friend, any SLP, or anyone who has a special interest in stuttering. While some chapters may want to exclude anyone but people who stutter from the meetings, I would advise against that practice. We need everyone pulling on the same rope in the same direction. In Dallas (and in most places) we welcome anyone to our meetings.
We especially welcome SLPs and student SLPs to our meetings because we are a vital part of their learning process. Everyone participates in the meeting equally. Introductions, discussions, breakout sessions, everything. There are no passive observers at our meetings. Everyone participates.
The SLPs and students aren't there to help us, but because of what we can teach them, they will be better prepared to help our children and grandchildren. We need each other! That's what the NSA is all about!
Russ Hicks
Past President of the Dallas NSA Chapter
September 2003 |  |
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