Edmund, 26, grew up in the suburbs of Boston and later attended Oberlin College in Ohio, where he studied ethnomusicology (the study of the music of different cultures, especially non-Western ones). After college, he returned to the Boston area and now lives in Norwood, MA, with his boyfriend and their cat. Despite his musical training, Edmund now works as a software developer for a medical health records company. When not working, he spends his time singing with two choruses: the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus and Voices United, a mixed-voice barbershop chorus. He also spends his time playing trivia, overanalyzing pop music, taking hip-hop dance classes, and playing board and video games.
Like many people who stutter, Edmund’s stutter developed in early childhood, but unlike many other people who stutter, his school’s speech therapist had experience with stuttering and he referred him to a stuttering specialist. His speech therapy sessions with both of them used fluency shaping, but also focused on self-confidence as well as stuttering acceptance and education. Right after meeting his stuttering specialist in 2001, she informed his family about that year’s NSA Conference being held in Boston. “I barely remember the 2001 conference but I remember enjoying it. At the subsequent conferences I definitely remember loving how easy it was to just walk up to a stranger and introduce yourself without any fear of judgement. Both me and my family learned a great deal about stuttering.”
Because of these pleasant experiences, Edmund rarely let his stutter hold him back in his childhood, often performing in theatre and holding leadership roles in student organizations.
Family obligations stopped him from attending conferences for a while, but in 2015 after graduating college, he decided to go back to the NSA Conference and get involved in the Boston Chapter. Since then he has become more involved in the stuttering community, becoming a co-chapter leader of the NSA Boston Adult Chapter and even attending the 2019 International Stuttering Association Conference in Iceland.
Edmund is thankful for being part of a worldwide stuttering community, and his parting message says it all: “I would encourage every person who stutters to get more involved in the stuttering community, as groups of similar people can provide wonderful support and together they can create great change!”
David Alpuche was born and raised in México City, where he lived most of his life before calling Dallas, TX home. He has been stuttering since the age of four, though his outlook on stuttering has changed drastically. David attended his first NSA conference in Ft. Worth in 2011, and says life hasn’t been the same since. Professionally, David is a full-time photographer (mostly weddings, photojournalism and fine art) who dabbles in writing and translating. He is the current Chapter Leader of the Dallas, TX Adult NSA Chapter, and was awarded Chapter Leader of the Year (with co-leader Sivan) in 2017. David has been commissioned to write a series of spotlight pieces on our Chapter Leaders and Regional Chapter Coordinators.
