Mumbai SHG Meeting

Today’s Minutes of the Meeting:

This topic was found in: http://stammer.in/2008/05/14/running-self-help-groups-support-groups/. 

Topic: Personal Awareness

Goal: Increase personal awareness

Activity: Discuss my feelings

A. Begin the meeting by asking members to name as many feelings as they can–such as: A time I felt angry was; A time I felt happy was; A time I felt scared was; A time I felt guilty was; and A time I felt was, etc. and members share.

B. Discuss how you feel when people focus on your stuttering.

C. Discuss a response that a person made about your stuttering and how you responded to him or her.

D. Homework assignment: Keep a journal for one week that focuses on how you perceive your stuttering in various situations. For example you might use a chart with the following headings: Day/Time; Situation/Setting; Activity; Reactions of other (5); My thoughts and feelings; and consequences. Have members share their experiences. 

The goal was to become more aware of feelings/thoughts in a situation. Only after becoming aware of feelings/thoughts can we choose to change them. 

We also discussed if the SHG has been helpful to us, as some of us have felt that after attending the SHG we are stammering more. My parents have actually told me this. Gaurav shared how he feels the SHG has transformed him into a more confident speaker and person overall. He also shared how stuttering comes in cycles – sometimes its not much, sometimes its there. And he shared how 4 years ago before finding TISA and the SHG, he would still go through times of lots of stammering. And the way he deals with such moments now (after TISA & SHG) are much different than how would deal with it before. He is able to be aware of his feelings, and then throw in some voluntary stammering if he feels like stammering he is trying not to stammer – and ultimately be able to speak with stammering and say It’s Ok. This is the meaning of acceptance. Gaurav, please comment here if I didn’t accurately share what you said. 

Haklao Magar Pyar Se!