Speech Therapy

President Biden is a stutterer. He has worked hard to overcome his stuttering and sometimes when you watch him speaking in public, you can see him actively battling this disorder. He’s using his training right in front of us. 

Astronaut John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. He went back to space again in his late seventies. He was an authentic American hero, but even heroes look up to others. John Glenn looked up to his wife, Annie. She was a stutterer and worked hard to overcome her speech issues to become a powerful pubic speaker. 

I too had speech therapy. When I entered school, my “R’s” sounded like “L’s.”  So, if I said “Let’s ride bikes,” it came out as “Let’s lide bikes.”

At school, I was embarrassed about how I spoke, so I rarely raised my hand or spoke in class. 

Reading in front of others was highly anxiety provoking - it was torture. During reading instruction, the whole class would sit in a circle and everyone would read one sentence. I remember counting the kids before me and trying to figure out what sentence I would have to read, so I could practice before it was my turn.

For the first few years of school, I was pulled out of class to do speech therapy. I hated it. I clearly remember the training my therapists gave me and also remember having to slow down my talking so I could put those techniques into practice. 

Eventually that training became second nature. 

It was all worth it. I got over my speech issues, became less shy, and participated in class regularly. It just took time and hard work.