Join us for an open and meaningful conversation with Chris Anderson, Chaya Goldstein, and Dr. Naomi Rodgers, the authors of “Organizing Life Around Stuttering: A Qualitative Examination of Stuttering Through the Lens of Complex Trauma.”

In this special speaker series event, we’ll explore how the experience of stuttering can shape not just how someone speaks - but how they feel, respond, and move through the world over time.  During this event, the authors will introduce a trauma-informed perspective - one that considers how repeated stressful or painful communication experiences can have lasting emotional and psychological effects.

Together, we’ll explore:  

How repeated moments of speaking-related stress or social threat can accumulate over time

Why some people who stutter develop patterns of avoidance, hyper-awareness, or “planning ahead” in conversations

How stuttering can impact identity, relationships, and sense of safety in everyday interactions

What it means to support people who stutter in ways that prioritize safety, understanding, and choice  

Due to the generosity of our donors, this event is free and open to the public. It is designed to be welcoming and accessible to adults who stutter, as well as friends, family members, and professionals who want to better understand the full experience of stuttering. There will be space for reflection, questions, and shared conversation.

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Christopher Anderson, a person who stutters and writer, is a longtime member of stuttering self-help community and, in October 2022, he self-published his first book on stuttering, Every Waking Moment: The Journey to Take Back My Life from the Trauma and Stigma of Stuttering, which examines his through-life journey to self-acceptance from first stutter to fatherhood. He is also an award-winning subject matter expert on national security for the US Government in Washington, DC, where he lives with his family. For more, see everywakingmoment.blog.

Chaya Goldstein-Schuff, MA, CCC-SLP, is a person who stutters and is a speech-language pathologist at the Sisskin Stuttering Center. She specializes in trauma-informed therapy for individuals who stutter, applying trauma-informed principles and practices to support clients feeling safe in their bodies while stuttering. She is researching the experience of stuttering as a form of complex trauma to deepen the understanding of the lived experience of stuttering.

Naomi Rodgers, PhD, CCC-SLP is an academic speech-language pathologist and assistant professor at the University of Iowa. As a person who stutters, she has always been intrigued by the complexity of stuttering—its variability, its connection to identity, its impact on relationships. As a researcher, she studies these topics through an interdisciplinary lens of behavioral health, cognitive science, and counseling psychology. She enjoys being active in the stuttering community, including through the National Stuttering Association (NSA), the National Association for Young People Who Stutter (Friends), and the World Stuttering and Cluttering Organization (WSCO).

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