Better Late Than Never…
The Columbia, SC Chapter of the NSA met Thursday, September 14th. 8 were in attendance; Charley, Nathan, Judy, Lee, Amit, Liz, Greg and Alicia. It is worth noting that one member drove down from Greenville, and another drove up from Kingstree, giving us a coverage range of 200 MILES! Amit opened the meeting by reading the Welcoming Words, which was immediately followed by Good News. An exciting topic was our new website, http://nsacolumbiasc.wordpress.com/. Judy has returned from the IFA conference in Dublin, and promises to share more details and information next month about her experiences there.
Charley opened a discussion about the New York Times article about Pagaclone, and its success in reducing stuttering. Most agreed they would be interested in taking such a drug, however Amit declined, saying that the long-term effects are unknown and the risks did not outweigh the limited benefits. There was also no concensus on what one would be willing to pay for such a drug.
When Judy departed (and before Liz or Alicia arrived), the (temporarily all male) group decided to discuss women and dating. This was a candid, but brief discussion, as Liz soon stopped by the Center to retrieve a piece of equipment she had neglected to pick up earlier in the day. Liz is not ordinarily part of the group, and ‘paid the price’ for her oversight, when the group asked her to stay behind and field a couple of questions! She was soon joined by Alicia (usually a group member but coming after class), who would suffer a similar fate…
The questions posed by the group to the two graduate students were:
1) Is is better if a male PWS mentions/discusses his stuttering upon meeting you, even if his stuttering is obvious?
2) Are there cues to determine if a woman is genuinely interested in you, or is just being polite?
The first question proved somewhat easier than the second, but here is a summary of responses…
Confidence in himself tends to make the best impression, regardless of fluency. Advertising/discussing stuttering is OK, especially good if it flows from self-confidence. As for genuine interest, this may be best measured by the duration of the conversation and to what extent she is engaged in that conversation. **We would be most interested in input on these questions from others!!
Time got away from us very quickly, and we did not break up the meeting until well after 9:00 when Charley read the closing words.
Thanks for listening,
Charley
