Proud Stutter

There is no definitive answer to why a person stutters. However, thanks to Frank Guenther and his research lab at Boston University, the mystery of stuttering has become a little clearer. With advances in brain activity monitoring technology, neuroscientists like Frank are able to explore stuttering in exciting new ways. Frank joins Maya and Cynthia for a conversation about his research on the underlying causes of stuttering and how it may be related to speech production. Other topics mentioned in the episode:History of stuttering research and early misconceptionsCorrelations between behavior development in childhood and fluencySimilarities between stutterers, neurotypical children, and adults with Parkinson’sIs there a connection between being bilingual and having a stutter?Stuttering differences in males and femalesOpportunities for future stuttering research Quotes from the episode: “There are probably subtypes of stuttering that we will eventually need to separate out if we truly want to understand the behavior because otherwise we will just keep seeing variability from study to study.”“Relatively little research has been done in females who stutter so one of the things that we hope to learn from our collaboration with Dr. Chang’s lab is whether there are different developmental trajectories for males and females that might give us more insight into what's happening and why it's more likely that a males will continue to stutter, compared to a female who stuttered as a child.”Mentioned in the episode:Guenther Lab at Boston UniversitySpeech Neurology Lab at the University of MichiganNIH Policy and Guidelines on The Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical ResearchBE PART OF THE SHOW:Rate this pod: https://ratethispodcast.com/proudstutter Have a question or comment - Leave a voicemail for Maya & Cynthia at (415) 964-0140 - this is a voicemail-only line, so we promise you won't have to talk to someone in person!Be a guest on the show - we would love to talk with you! Send us an email at: info@proudsutter.comFOLLOW PROUD STUTTER & ITS CREATORS:Maya’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mayasharona Maya’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/MayaSharona Cynthia’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cynthsta Podcast website - www.proudstutter.com Support us:Donate: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/proudstutterBuy cute merch: https://www.proudstutter.com/shop Share Proud Stutter with your friends: https://pod.link/1588336626 Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/proud-stutter/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

People who stutter are starting to create support groups at their workplaces as a way to create a safe space to discuss stuttering and sharing tips and strategies. Mike Meaney is one of these people. He recently started a stuttering support group at one of the biggest technology companies in the world.Maya and Cynthia talk with Mike about how he started a support group at Meta (formerly known as Facebook), and how it has transformed his workplace environment for the better.Topics covered include:Coming out as a person who stutters at workManaging a team as a person who stuttersAdvocating for speech therapy accommodations at MetaOpening up about the toughest moments growing up with a stutterAdvice for managing stress at workStuttering and its connection to having a high vocabularyBE PART OF THE SHOW:Rate this pod: https://ratethispodcast.com/proudstutterHave a question or comment - Leave a voicemail for Maya & Cynthia at (415) 964-0140 - this is a voicemail-only line, so we promise you won't have to talk to someone in person!Be a guest on the show - we would love to talk with you! Send us an email at: info@proudsutter.comFOLLOW PROUD STUTTER & ITS CREATORS:Maya’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mayasharonaMaya’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/MayaSharonaCynthia’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cynthstaPodcast website - www.proudstutter.comSupport us:Donate: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/proudstutterBuy cute merch: https://www.proudstutter.com/shopShare Proud Stutter with your friends: https://pod.link/1588336626Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/proud-stutter/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The movement to expand diversity and inclusivity in newsrooms is growing. Yet stuttering, a speech disability affecting nearly 1% of the population, is seldom talked about in the newsroom.This week, Mariam Elba speaks with Maya and Cynthia about what it’s like to have a stutter in the newsroom. Mariam, a woman who stutters, is a research reporter at Pro Publica and an adjunct professor at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Journalism School. Mariam talks about her journey to becoming a reporter and how she didn’t let her stutter get in the way of pursuing journalism as a career and teaching.“Don't be afraid to kind of go after what you feel really passionate about. Like if there are stories that you like, that you're seeing, and that you want to write about and report on that you're not seeing elsewhere, you should be the person to do that reporting. And that like, you know, your stutter doesn't like make you any less qualified to be someone speaking in like a public-facing setting.”Other topics mentioned:Power of mentorshipHaving a stutter and teachingMeeting other people who stutter in the newsroomBeing around other people who stutter for the first timeAdvice for aspiring teachers who stutterTips for introducing yourself as a person who stutters in a groupAsking about a person’s stutter: a positive real-life exampleThe challenges of following up with sourcesMaya’s experience working in PR with a stutter Dealing with stress at the workplaceMentioned in the episode:CUNY’s Craig Newmark’s School of JournalismPro PubilcaThe NationBE PART OF THE SHOW:Rate this pod: https://ratethispodcast.com/proudstutterHave a question or comment - Leave a voicemail for Maya & Cynthia at (415) 964-0140 - this is a voicemail-only line, so we promise you won't have to talk to someone in person!Be a guest on the show - we would love to talk with you! Send us an email at: info@proudsutter.comFOLLOW PROUD STUTTER & ITS CREATORS:Maya’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mayasharonaMaya’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/MayaSharonaCynthia’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cynthstaPodcast website - www.proudstutter.comSupport us:Donate: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/proudstutterBuy cute merch: https://www.proudstutter.com/shopShare Proud Stutter with your friends: https://pod.link/1588336626Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/proud-stutter/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Blackness, stuttering, music, and religion are all complex topics in their own right. Yet, Jerome Ellis combines them beautifully in his work, like when he uses academic and theoretical language to parse out the relationship between blackness and music.In the second part of our interview with Ellis, we talk more about his album, The Clearing, and how he draws out the beauty of stuttering through various mediums – history to show the connection between music and blackness, and comparing waiting birds and trees to the unknowingness of stuttering.“If I were...if I were repeating the first syllable of a book title than they…then [people] would be less likely to hang up because they would hear like, and they might be like – Oh, he's stuttering right now – but, because [my] glottal block so often sounds silent…people don't know what's happening, and…it's been so painful for so many years, but I gradually I’ve been able [to see there is something important there] in the not knowing.”Other topics include:How Blackness and stuttering play next to each otherHistorical knot of blackness and music Mosaics of differenceVoluntary and involuntary stutteringHerons and stutteringHonoring the mystery and beauty of the stutterStuttering and the state of unknowing Tress and stutteringGlottal block stuttering vs. repeating syllables in TV and film“Stuttering is an occasion to be present in complex thought”Mentioned in the episode:“We do not live single-issue lives” - Audrey LordeHistorian Saidiya HartmanTrack 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 of The ClearingHistory of the word grallatorialThis American Life episode featuring Jerome“The Cloud of Unknowing”Jerome’s forthcoming projectsUpcoming Live Performances:April 10, 2022: Rewire Festival in The Hague, NetherlandsMay 7, 2022: XJAZZ! Festival in Berlin, GermanyJuly 2022: Performances at Haus Der Kunst in Munich, GermanyBE PART OF THE SHOW:Rate this pod - https://ratethispodcast.com/proudstutter Have a question or comment - Leave a voicemail for Maya & Cynthia at (415) 964-0140 - this is a voicemail-only line, so we promise you won't have to talk to someone in person!Be a guest on the show - we would love to talk with you! Send us an email at info@proudsutter.com.FOLLOW PROUD STUTTER & ITS CREATORS:Maya’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mayasharona Cynthia’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-l-chin/ Podcast website - https://www.proudstutter.com SUPPORT US:Donate - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/proudstutter Buy cute merch - https://www.proudstutter.com/shop Sign up for Proud Stutter updates, news & eventsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/proud-stutter/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

JJJJJerome Ellis talks with Maya and Cynthia about the intersections of being a black person who stutters and a musician, how his views of his disability evolved since childhood, and why it was so important for him to connect his stutter to his ancestral history of slavery in his work. He also highlights how the stage is a safe space for stuttering and music is a source of healing the pain he experienced as a child.“Growing up I felt so much of the pain and also the beauty of the stutter. Over time I’ve come to feel the stutter alters time, and music is another way that we can alter time. Part of what I was trying to do with The Clearing is to try to undo some of the things that have been told to me about stuttering and to transform the stuttering narrative through poetry, music, history, and philosophy.”Other topics include:Stuttering easily with animalsIntersectionalityPain in not being able to connect with peopleThe stage as a safe space Comparing stuttering to being frozen in timeMusic as a source of healingBeing at odds with languagePoetry allows for so much freedom to explore languageGetting through interviews with a stutterLINKS FROM THE EPISODE:Jerome’s album The ClearingJerome’s accompanying book to The ClearingThe Guardian article, Artist and stutterer JJJJJerome Ellis: ‘So much pain comes from not feeling fully human’More about the collaboration between James Harrison Monaco and Jerome EllisPerformance at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern ArtBrittany Cooper’s Racial Politics of Time TED TalkJoshua St. Pierre, Canada Research Chair in Critical Disability StudiesJerome's upcoming live performances:April 10, 2022: Rewire Festival in The Hague, NetherlandsMay 7, 2022: XJAZZ! Festival in Berlin, GermanyJuly 2022: Performances at Haus Der Kunst in Munich, GermanyBE PART OF THE SHOW:Rate this pod: https://ratethispodcast.com/proudstutterHave a question or comment - Leave a voicemail for Maya & Cynthia at (415) 964-0140 - this is a voicemail-only line, so we promise you won't have to talk to someone in person!Be a guest on the show - we would love to talk with you! Send us an email at: info@proudsutter.comFOLLOW PROUD STUTTER & ITS CREATORS:Maya’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mayasharonaMaya’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/MayaSharonaCynthia’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cynthstaPodcast website - www.proudstutter.comSupport us:Donate: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/proudstutterBuy cute merch: https://www.proudstutter.com/shopShare Proud Stutter with your friends: https://pod.link/1588336626Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/proud-stutter/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Not everyone who stutters shows it all the time. There are people who become very good at hiding it by substituting words, avoiding high-octane situations, and choosing to remain quiet to avoid stuttering. People like this are often identified as having a "covert" stutter.Both Maya and guest Sarah Nelson identify as covert stutters. In this episode, they talk about passing as fluent, disclosing to their families and friends, and analogies that describe their experiences. Other topics include:“Do I Stutter Enough?”Harmful phrases that perpetuate ableismA good example of someone reacting to your stutterGetting through interviews with a stutter“Am I Disabled Enough?” - Embracing a disability identity Mentioned in the episode:Untamed by Glennon DoyleBE PART OF THE SHOW:Rate this pod - https://ratethispodcast.com/proudstutter Have a question or comment - Leave a voicemail for Maya & Cynthia at (415) 964-0140 - this is a voicemail-only line, so we promise you won't have to talk to someone in person!Be a guest on the show - we would love to talk with you! Send us an email at info@proudsutter.com.FOLLOW PROUD STUTTER & ITS CREATORS:Maya’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mayasharona Cynthia’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-l-chin/ Podcast website - https://www.proudstutter.com SUPPORT US:Donate - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/proudstutter Buy cute merch - https://www.proudstutter.com/shop Sign up for Proud Stutter updates, news & eventsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/proud-stutter/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Did you know there is a community of Speech-Language Pathologists who stutter? Bailey Levis, a speech therapist and proud person who stutters, is the founder of the San Francisco Speech and Fluency Center. Bailey’s approach to stuttering treatment is unique in that he centers his practice around acceptance, confidence-building, and goal setting.Maya and Cynthia speak with Bailey about his stuttering treatment philosophy and what led him to become a speech therapist. Other topics covered include:The positives of having a speech therapist who also stuttersAn incident that stopped Maya’s dream of becoming a speech therapistAvoiding certain classesNeurodiversityWhat advice would Bailey give his 8-year-old self?Addendum for Episode 6 of Proud Stutter: When Bailey mentions the term "neurotypical" in the episode, he meant to use the term "neurodiverse."(A full transcript of the episode is available here)QuotesAt 5:45 - “As adults, we-we-we're gonna have to, you know, face our stuttering and manage it for our entire lives. But we don't have to let it stop us from living our lives to our fullest.”At 10: 37 - “[Stuttering Therapy] is about identifying uncomfortable situations and helping people to be comfortable in those uncomfortable situations…it's all the things that we avoid doing in our lives or the things that we avoid saying, that's the disability.”Mentioned in the episode:Tik Tok clip - This Woman With A Stutter Is Going Viral After Filming Herself Ordering At A Drive-Thru, And Her Videos Are Raising Awareness About The DisorderSan Francisco Speech and Fluency Center - www.sfstutteringhelp.comBE PART OF THE SHOW:Rate this pod - https://ratethispodcast.com/proudstutterHave a question or comment - Leave a voicemail for Maya & Cynthia at (415) 964-0140 - this is a voicemail-only line, so we promise you won't have to talk to someone in person!Be a guest on the show - we would love to talk with you! Send us an email at info@proudsutter.com.FOLLOW PROUD STUTTER & ITS CREATORS:Maya’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mayasharonaCynthia’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-l-chin/Podcast website - https://www.proudstutter.comSUPPORT US:Donate - https://www.proudstutter.com/contributeBuy cute merch - https://www.proudstutter.com/shopSign up for Proud Stutter updates, news & eventsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/proud-stutter/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Maya and Cynthia talk to James Hayden, a person who stutters, a Tedx speaker, and the author of “Dear World, I Stutter.”Many stutterers like James and Maya have been discriminated against because of their stutter, whether it be in a job, during an interview, or at school.So often, we pass judgments on people by our first impressions of them, often without giving it a second thought. But how often do we take the time to look beyond our first impressions of someone?In this episode, Maya and Cynthia talk to James about first impressions and how to let go of self-judgment when stuttering in front of new people.LINKS!Purchase Jame’s book here.Read writings by James here, here, here, and here.Support us:DonateBuy cute merchEmail: info@proudsutter.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/proud-stutter/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Maya and Cynthia explore the Stuttering Subreddit, a supportive online community for people who stutter. Topics include parenting choices, stuttering through the pandemic, and the serious consequences of misunderstanding people who stutter.Links!Stuttering Subreddit2021 NSA Keynote: Dream. Speak. Live: How To Navigate Fluency Conformity And Reduce Stuttering StigmaSupport us:DonateBuy cute merchEmail: info@proudsutter.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/proud-stutter/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Maya and her mom have a raw and emotional conversation about her stutter. Before this interview, Maya had never shared with her mom how she really felt about growing up with a stutter, how exhausting speech therapy was after school, and how hiding her stutter took so much out of her mentally.“Having all these tools to practice was just another kind of thing I had t-to think about when I never really wanted to do it in the first p-place. But at th-the same time, I really appreciate you going above and beyond t-to help me especially b-because at that time I really did hate my stutter...I felt so alone in it.”Support us:DonateBuy cute merchLinks!Therapy referral lists of speech-language pathologistsInternational Stuttering Association EventsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/proud-stutter/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy