Written by: Anna Pasternak / Fluency & Stuttering / November 25, 2020 / 10 minutes read

Recently everyone has been talking about stuttering. Why you may ask? As most of us know by now or at least have heard something about it, President Joe Biden stutters. He has struggled with stuttering his whole life. Biden began stuttering at a young age and was made fun of for it. Since then Biden has worked his entire life to help overcome his stutter. Though there is no cure for stuttering, stuttering can improve through the use of various speech strategies that can be taught by working with a Speech-Language Pathologist. Even with all the hard work that Biden has put in through therapy, he is sometimes still caught in a stutter during his speeches. Because Biden continues to experience stuttering, situations that may be more stressful lead Biden to moments of stuttering.

During the presidential debates it was seen that Trump would often interrupt Biden as he was speaking, and this seemed to at times make Biden have some moments of stuttering. Who knows if Trump was doing this purposely to stump Biden, as he was aware of his speech pattern and that he stutters. Maybe it was used as a tactic to make Biden appear less competent?

Less competent? Is this even accurate to say? NO. Many people to this day believe that when people stutter they are less competent or have a cognitive deficit. Stuttering does not cause a cognitive deficit, it only creates a different speech pattern. When someone stutters they know exactly what they want to say and how to say it, it may just not come out as planned. Biden reported that he has been made fun of for his stuttering since he was a child. After stuttering during the debate Biden was mocked by the news and social media. Some news casters saying “spit it out ”. Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump mocked him on T.V. When confronted about it she said that it was not known to her that Biden has a stutter, so “of course” it must just be a cognitive deficit. We can only imagine that from her side, she was only trying to make Biden look weaker to the public, but unfortunately did not lean her way.

People who stutter are capable of anything as the stutter will only stop them if they allow it to. They can reach whatever goals they are aiming for. Because of Biden there has been a new light shown on stuttering, which will allow people to have a better understanding of it. It can also be inspirational for others who stutter both children and adults. If they see that the president of the United States stutters and his stutter did not stop him from becoming president, this will inspire people who do have a stutter to not hold back and reach for their goals. There was a teenager in the media who came forward and told the word how he met Biden during a rally. He expressed that even though he still stutters he feels more confident in speaking, and knows that he will be able to achieve whatever he wants.

During Biden’s times growing up he learned ways to hide his stutter and it was widely believed that this was the only way to overcome it. Even though he does very well with applying strategies to help mask his stutter, I believe it would have been beneficial for Biden to express to the world that he does stutter before the debates and speeches he had to make. Many people were shocked or unaware of his speech issues and turned to just saying it’s dementia, when Biden was taking longer pauses then usual, because they were not aware of his problem. It is much easier to say that he has dementia because he is old, than to look into the truth. When there are high stress situations a stutter may come out more often, because of anxiety and tension being caused in the body. In high stress situations especially for Biden with the whole world listening, a lot of misconceptions and arguments could have been avoided if he mentioned that he stuttered from the beginning. When people own up to it, then there are far less others left guessing, and creating ideas that are simply not true.

Biden’s stutter is mild as he has been working on it his whole life. Biden still continues to talk at a slow rate and may pause to change the words as he is wanting to say. Biden reported that he once had a lot of facial grimaces when he is younger, but that is not seen any more during his speeches and interviews. Biden says that he never had professional help, but was told to put cadence into his voice. He was often made fun of and laughed at, and stresses to all those who stutter to not let it define them. Stuttering is still something that people laugh about, and it should not be that way. It should be better understood, to help support those that do stutter and allowing them to know that they will be accepted not humiliated. Biden has become an inspiration to those who stutter especially children looking into he future, as he has achieved so much in his life even though he stutters.

To speak with one of the speech-language pathologists at Well Said: Toronto Speech Therapy, schedule an initial consultation by clicking the link below or calling (647) 795-5277.