Joe Biden's childhood struggle with a stutter: How he overcame it and how it shaped him

[Gothmog]

Joe is very well equipped to take on trump the bully

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Valerie Biden Owens, the former vice president’s younger sister, says that one lasting impact of his childhood stutter is that it has given him more empathy and compassion for others’ trials, and it uniquely equips him to handle Trump’s taunts.

“Trump is a bully, and Joe has been standing up to bullies his entire life,” Owens said in an interview. “Joe’s stuttering, I think, is one of the principal reasons — a major, major, major reason — that he is the good and compassionate and kind man that he is.”

About 3 million Americans suffer from the speech impediment of stuttering, marked by involuntary repetition of sounds, syllables or words. According to the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, most children outgrow their stutter, but for 25% of them, stuttering is a lifelong challenge.

Biden has overcome the serious stutter of his youth, but remnants of it resurface on occasions such as when he is very tired, he said in a 2016 speech. Experts on stuttering who follow him closely say they have noticed it on several occasions during the campaign, such as an interview on “The View” when he addressed complaints about his tendency to touch and hug women while campaigning, and an April speech in Pittsburgh launching his campaign, when he struggled with words.

[George II]

1. We've never seen him speaking publicly as much as we have since April. This is something....

...he's been dealing with all his life, and he handles it great.

[LakeArenal]

2. I've been to s speech. He's great.

[Gothmog]

3. I was at a fundraiser on Friday where Joe spoke for 30+ minutes

He was great

[LakeArenal]

4. Saw him last fall before mid-terms

I knew then he would run, that I would vote for him and that he will win.

[Gothmog]

8. I also got to hear Vice President Biden at the national convention

I saved some floor speech signs from the convention and I got Vice President Biden to sign three of these signs. I have one JOE sign and two Scranton PA signs each signed by Vice President Biden

[LakeArenal]

10. Sigh. What a great candidate.

Happy to know you have those great mementos.

[FloridaBlues]

5. Every once in awhile you do hear a stutter guess that struggle never goes completely away

Good piece by his sister. Thank you for posting.

[DownriverDem]

6. Biden Is The Best Candidate

to beat trump.

[FloridaBlues]

11. Yes have to agree!

[BlueMississippi]

7. Such a great role model and example Joe Biden is.

The only other candidate that comes close in touching personal stories is Senator Harris.

[Thekaspervote]

9. Anyone..anyone that can overcome that kind of disability... kudos to them!!

[robbob]

12. Is this tRumps opening for a new nickname?

Do it tRump do it. Show the whole world just what an ignorant bullying asshole you can really be...

[Cha]

14. Yeah, I dare him.

[Hekate]

15. Double-dog dare him!

[highplainsdem]

13. K&R! Great article! Thanks, Gothmog!

[Gothmog]

16. I support Joe because the man he is when the cameras aren't looking.

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[Cha]

17. Thank you again for this, Goth!

[Gothmog]

18. Here is a great story

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?s=20

[Cha]

19. Thank you for this, Goth!

[Gothmog]

20. Clarence Page column: Are Joe Biden's gaffes tied to stuttering?

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Joe Biden and I share a problem that’s not always easy to talk about. In fact, that’s the problem. We stutter. That makes a lot of things hard to talk about.

Now that the 77-year-old former vice president is running for president, many people understandably are asking whether his notorious gaffes, bloopers and stumbles are related to his age.....

Should more voters know about Biden’s stuttering challenges? He certainly shouldn’t try to run away from it, says another stutterer, Michael Sheehan, a Washington-based communications coach who has been helping Biden prepare for debates. Passing along some campaign advice from MSNBC host Chris Matthews, who was sharing a quote favored by Robert F. Kennedy, Sheehan told me, “Always hang a lantern on a problem.”

I agree. I’m sure many readers reacted to The Atlantic revelations as Ramesh Ponnuru, senior editor at the conservative National Review, did on his magazine’s website: “I had no idea, but it helps explain some of his verbal tics.”

Indeed it does. But, politics aside, what should really matter to voters isn’t Biden’s speech problems but how well he rises above them.

[Gothmog]

21. This made me smile

Link to tweet