I'm a speech therapist, person who stutters, and specialist in stuttering. Here's my take on Joe Biden's stuttering.

The weird looks, the uncomfortable silence. Confusion radiates from their eyes. They don’t know what’s going on, and neither did I, until I was 20 years old. I didn’t know what stuttering was. I assumed it was prolongations (aaaaaaple) or repetitions (b b ball). I had no idea that when my words were stuck in my throat and I changed a word to one that was easier to say, that was stuttering. I was often perceived as shy, stuck-up, or dumb.

ICYMI: Joe Biden’s stutter in the news

Stuttering has been making headlines, as articles, tweets, and narratives about Joe Biden’s speech circulate on social media and into my inbox.

1. Biden is interviewed by John Hendrickson, a person who stutters, in the Atlantic. Biden reports he used to stutter, but that he “hasn’t stuttered in so long”

2. Sarah Huckabee Sanders mocks Joe Biden for stuttering. Biden tweeted in response, “I’ve worked my whole life to overcome a stutter. And it’s my great honor to mentor kids who have experienced the same. It’s called empathy.” Sanders tweets in response, “I actually didn’t know that about you and that is commendable. I apologize and should have made my point respectfully.”

3. Joe Biden’s stutter continued to make the news with several opinion pieces such as this one by a high schooler who stutters, Benji Schussheim. He wrote, “Biden is doing the exact opposite of overcoming his stutter. It’s an example that encourages people to ‘cure’ themselves, but that only digs deeper into avoidance behaviors and fear.”

4. Joe Biden is mocked yet again, by Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law. At a Women for Trump event, Lara stated, “I feel kind of sad for Joe Biden. I’m supposed to want him to fail at every turn, but every time he comes on stage or they turn to him I’m like ‘Joe can you get it out? Let’s get the words out Joe.’” Lara Trump has since denied the claims. 

5. Captain ‘Sully’ Sullenberger defends Biden and writes, “You become a true leader, not because of how you speak, but because of what you have to say and the challenges you have overcome to help others. Ignore kids (and adults) who are mean, or don’t know what it feels like to stutter. Respond by showing them how to be kind, polite, respectful and generous, to be brave enough to try big things, even though you are not perfect.”

6. Biden discusses stuttering in a town hall, entitled on YouTube as, "Biden shares vulnerable story on how he overcame stuttering". This is the first time Biden alluded to the idea that he still stutters saying that he still occasionally catches himself stuttering when he is really tired. He shares a method he uses, breaking up his words into phrases to slow himself down. He spoke for almost ten minutes about his stuttering.

7. Biden's stuttering is highlighted in the Democratic National Convention through his mentorship with a teen who stutters. Brayden Harrington spoke (and stuttered beautifully) about this mentorship, noting the technique that Biden taught him. Later on in the night, when introducing Joe Biden, the narrator says, "Joe resolved to overcome his stutter." Biden explains that he used to stand up in front of the mirror and practice. Later in the intro, stuttering is again referenced, "He couldn't allow the stuttering to define him."

So what is really going on?

Watching the democratic debates and democratic national convention, I heard Joe Biden’s stutter make its way, over and over, into millions of American’s homes. 

I heard:

• Blocks (silent struggle filled stoppages, where the word will not come out)

• Word changes (About to say one word but changing it to a different, easier word to say)

• Struggle, tension (in his face and jaw)

• Loss of eye contact and eye blinks (secondary behaviors one might adopt to help them get the word out)

• Filler words (um, uh, like) to help him get the word out 

This is stuttering.

What I like about the DNC segment:

• That stuttering, in all of its forms (blocks, repetitions, prolongations, secondaries, loss of eye contact, etc.) is being talked about and HEARD on the national stage.

• The story was not framed as TEEN OVERCOMES STUTTERING, as many annoying headlines do, but rather it was focused on how Biden helps him find his voice.

• The outcome? Confidence (attainable), not fluency (not always attainable)

• Being a person who stutters can create empathy. I've seen this first hand in the hundreds of people who stutter I've met. Tonight, I heard this message loud and proud to our nation. Joe Biden said, "From having to deal with stuttering, it gave me insight into other people's pain, other people's suffering."

What I'm concerned about:

The "overcome" narrative: If Biden can overcome his stuttering, you can too! Does he mean by practicing speaking in front of the mirror every day? That does not work for most people. Stuttering therapy works to help clients manage their stuttering and improve their quality of life. It is drastically different from drill-based physical therapy (and actually, most speech therapies).

YOU CAN'T OVERCOME STUTTERING. There is no cure for stuttering. Nor is there a quick fix.

Techniques only go so far, especially when the fear is high. I've seen countless numbers of adults who stutter come in and say, "I got speech therapy, but now the techniques aren't working. I'm just not trying hard enough. I know I can be fluent!"

Think of a balance beam. You can walk across it fine when it's on the ground, but what if I raised it 10, 20, 50 feet in the air? Would you be able to do it? Maybe, maybe not. It's the same motor behavior, the only thing that changed is fear. Speaking as a person who stutters is like walking across that raised balance beam, every single day.

Can a person be president if he/she has not overcome stuttering?

I hope, that what Joe Biden means by "overcome" is getting to a place of confidence, acceptance, and no longer being held back by stuttering. If this is what he means by overcome, we need a new word for it - because using this word only forces unrealistic expectations on kids, teens, and adults who stutter.

I know so many people who stutter, living successful professional lives as doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers, politicians, rocket scientists, senior managers, and on and on.

Joe Biden continues to use stuttering in the past tense, further propagating the stigma of stuttering. He continues to state that he does not still stutter saying, “I don’t think of myself as continuing to stutter...That doesn’t cross my mind that I’m stuttering. Look, the mistakes I make are my mistakes. And some people think I still stutter. I don’t think of myself that way.” He then added, “Sometimes I’ll find myself searching for a second to find the words but I’ve always attributed that to being tired and not to the stutter.” Captain Sully also uses stuttering in the past tense, with “I once stuttered too” in the title of the article. 

Michael Boyle, a stuttering researcher and person who stutters, breaks down stigma into two parts: public stigma and self-stigma, Public stigma includes stereotypes, prejudice, and what society believes about people who stutter (e.g., people who stutter are unintelligent). Self-stigma is when a person who stutters applies this stigma to themselves (e.g., I am unintelligent). Self-stigma is associated with higher stress and decreased physical health in adults who stutter3.

When Joe Biden rejects claims that he is still a person who stutters, he is perpetuating the stigma. His words carry to the media, twitter, and second-hand to the general population, which includes 3 million Americans who stutter. 

Stuttering has nothing to do with your intelligence, your cognitive ability, or your ability to make sound decisions. It is simply a break in fluency. It just takes us a little longer to get the word out. 

That’s it. 

“Coming out” as a person who stutters was a game-changer for me. People now understood what was going on. They realized I just needed a few extra seconds to get my words out. And when I started opening up, others began opening up around me. It started an important conversation about hiding and vulnerability. I stopped avoiding talking. I said what I wanted to say. I no longer changed my words. My secondary behaviors decreased, and subsequently my fluency began to increase. 

About half of people who stutter feel the need to hide their stuttering. 40% report that in many areas of their life, no one knows they stutter1. When a person who stutters discloses, however, listeners react more positively2. Joe Biden, I challenge you to own your stuttering. It could be a game changer - for this election, America, and the millions of people who stutter who are counting on you.

1. Boyle, M. P., Milewski, K. M., & Beita-Ell, C. (2018). Disclosure of stuttering and quality of life in people who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 58, 1-10. 

2. Healy, E. C., Gabel, R. M., Daniels, D. D., & Kawai, N. (2007). The effects of self-disclosure and non self-disclosure of stuttering on listeners’ perceptions of a person who stutters. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 32(1), 51-69.

3. Boyle, M. P. & Fearon, A. N. (2018). Self-stigma and its associations with stress, physical health, and health care satisfaction in adults who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 56, 112-121.