/———/ If that’s the case, he’s not fit to be president. His gaffes could trigger international incidents. Imagine the gibberish he could spout during intense negotiations. Nice try with the shaming but Dementia Joe is past his prime.The Democratic presidential candidate’s gaffes may be rooted in a little-understood disability.
Some have been quick to question Biden’s mental fitness, hinting at a possible age-related cognitive decline (he just turned 77 years old), but it’s important to consider that many of those missteps could have been caused by his lifelong struggle with a speech impediment.
NYU speech pathologist Eric S. Jackson explains, “Stuttering can be thought of as a neurobiological ‘glitch’ — broadly speaking, the neural processes that are involved in speech, at times, don’t function like those in non-stuttering speakers. The glitches manifest themselves as intermittent and somewhat unpredictable interruptions in speech, typically repetitions of syllables or audible/inaudible prolongations of sounds. The speaker knows precisely what he or she wants to say, but in that moment, their body temporarily prevents them from producing speech.”
Stuttering is recognized as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. While Biden’s verbal missteps don’t cast him any favors on the debate floor, just him being a person with a speech impediment running for the highest office in the country is a powerful reminder for young people who may feel limited by their disabilities.
“If I could share one piece of advice with all of those struggling with a stutter, it would be this: When you commit yourself to a goal and when you persevere in the face of struggle, you will discover new strengths and skills to help you overcome not only this challenge, but future life challenges as well. I promise you — you have nothing to be ashamed of, and you have every reason to be proud,” Biden penned in a 2015 letter to the Stuttering Foundation of America.
Are Joe Biden’s gaffes related to a lifelong stuttering problem?
The Democratic presidential candidate’s gaffes may be rooted in a little-understood disability.thehill.com
It's not nice to ridicule people with speech impediments. What do you think?
I know. I wonder what Joe was trying to say when he "stuttered" that kids like to pet his hairy legs. Imagine he's talking to Putin and tries to say it's a nice day and "stutters" out that we fired nuclear warheads at Moscow. Oops ...