Stutter Social

About

Stutter Social is an organization that connects people who stutter (PWS) through Google+ Hangouts. Every time a Stutter Social Hangout begins, the button on the Find a Hangout page turns green and clicking it will bring you directly to the Hangout. We also post the Hangout link on our Facebook page and Google+ page.

For those who don't know what a Hangout is, it's a group video conference call where you can see and talk to up to 10 people at a time. You'll need a Google+ account in order to participate in a Hangout and you can get one at http://plus.google.com.

Participating in a Hangout is a fun, free, and safe way to connect with other PWS. Discussion often revolves around stuttering-related issues, but sometimes we just chat about our day or a good movie. We are a very welcoming and friendly bunch so don't be shy and come join us whenever is convenient for you. We have a Hangout Calendar that lists all the different Hangouts occurring each week.

Our Hangouts are run by official Stutter Social hosts. They are all people who stutter and they will do their best to make each Hangout worthwhile and enjoyable. You can read more about them below.

If you would like to host your own hangout, please email stuttersocial (at) gmail (dot) com and we’ll be happy to discuss it with you.

Meet your hosts

  • David Resnick
  • David Resnick is an inventor, entrepreneur, musician, and biofield researcher in Los Angeles who uses creativity and technology to facilitate fun and flow.
  • Daniele Rossi
  • Daniele Rossi is an illustrative designer from Toronto, Canada. Daniele produces the Stuttering is Cool podcast and blocks on plosives and stutters on a few vowels.
  • Mitchell Trichon
  • Mitchell Trichon, PhD, has published and presented research on self-help activities for people who stutter (PWS), at conferences in the U.S, Ireland, Brazil, Argentina, and the Czech Republic. As a past Board member of the National Stuttering Association he led the national network of adult support groups. Mitch is a PWS and teaches at St. John's University.
  • Samuel Dunsiger
  • Samuel Dunsiger is a freelance journalist and public relations specialist from Toronto, Canada. He enjoys fuelling his social media, coffee and sushi addictions (but not all at once).
  • Kenyatta Butler
  • Kenyatta Butler lives in Zephyrhills, FL. A baker for Publix Supermarkets. Recently married, puppy named Roxi, stuttered since 4, avid tech enthusiast.
  • Matt Schreifels
  • Matt Schreifels works as a lens clerk in an optical lab from mid Minnesota. His stuttering consists of more blocks than sound repetition. Recently joined the National Stuttering Association.
  • Evan Sherman
  • Evan Sherman is a Speech-Language Pathologist from Ormond Beach, FL. He was the 2011 Chapter Leader of the year for the NSA and is the creator of istuttersowhat.com.
  • Krishna Srinivasan
  • Krishna Srinivasan lives in London, UK, and is a management consultant. He has stammered since before the age of 6 and enjoys using the Internet to meet other people who stammer.

Management

David Resnick, Chief Evangelist & Co-Founder
Daniele Rossi, Chief Digital Strategist & Co-Founder
Mitchell Trichon, PhD, Self-Help Specialist & Co-Founder
Samuel Dunsiger, Communications Director

How Stutter Social Started

The seeds for Stutter Social were planted after the 2011 National Stuttering Association conference. David was a guest on Daniele's podcast, "Stuttering is Cool." They couldn't help but reminisce about the camaraderie felt amongst conference-goers and how they wanted to keep it going.

Their buddy, Mitch, had been researching the role of such self-help activities in stuttering management and believed that talking to other people who stutter (PWS) should be made easier through the internet. This led him to explore the next frontier in self-help – webcam chat.

Mitch began hosting video-based support meetings on Skype, with Daniele and David as participants. David then suggested using Google+ hangouts instead, because it was built to be more open and social. Daniele hosted the first few hangouts and spread word about them through social media. Finally, David had the idea to create an organization to coordinate the hangouts and provide regular meetings. Stutter Social was born.

Sam, an early participant and expert in communications, joined Stutter Social shortly thereafter. Along with the help of a dedicated team of hosts, within just a few months Stutter Social grew from something that just helped friends stay in touch into an international virtual support group.

Broader Reach

In addition to our goals of reaching people who stutter, we're also doing our part in raising public awareness about stuttering. At the 2011 NSA Conference, the keynote speaker David Seidler (writer of The King's Speech) said that "the story of stuttering is the story of bravery". Mr. Seidler further said that it's up to each one of us to tell the story of stuttering. We hope to embody this directive in future endeavors with Stutter Social.

Recent research has shown that self-help activities for people who stutter are beneficial in the overall management of stuttering (Tetnowski & McClure, 2009; Trichon & Tetnowski, 2011; Trichon, Tetnowski, & Rentschler, 2007).

Tetnowski, J. A., & McClure, J. A. (2009). Executive summary of 2009 survey. Seminar presented at the annual conference of the National Stuttering Association, Phoenix, AZ.

Trichon, M., & Tetnowski, J. (2011). Self-help conferences for people who stutter: A qualitative investigation. Journal of Fluency Disorders. doi:10.1016/j.jfludis.2011.06.001

Trichon, M., Tetnowski, J., & Rentschler, G. (2007). Perspective of participants of self-help groups for people who stutter. In J. Au-Yeung, & M. M. Leahy (Eds.), Research, treatment, and self-help in fluency disorders: New horizons. Proceedings of the fifth world congress on fluency disorders 25–28 July, 2006, Dublin, Ireland, (pp. 171–176). The International Fluency Association.