Politics and Stuttering Mix Well: Vice President Biden Part of Distinguished Group

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jane Fraser
info@stutteringhelp.org

alt text MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Stuttering hasn’t kept men and women out of politics. Take Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden is one of many leaders from all backgrounds and political parties who has dealt effectively with stuttering. Others include Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr., British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf, former Alaska Gov. Bill Sheffield, Prince Albert of Monaco, and even King George VI.

Nowadays Biden is known as a loquacious orator. But that wasn’t always the case. As a child, Biden stuttered and was teased by his classmates and even by some of his teachers. But that didn’t stop him. Using techniques like those outlined in Self-Therapy for the Stutterer, he practiced reading aloud in front of a mirror and worked hard to overcome this distressing disorder.

“Joe Biden’s success has helped to dispel some of the myths that still surround stuttering,” said Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation. “He and others serve as an inspiration to the 3 million Americans who struggle with this disorder.”

Biden is included on the Stuttering Foundation list of Famous People Who Stutter.

The Stuttering Foundation is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization helping those who stutter and their families. Web sites,www.stutteringhelp.org and www.tartamudez.org, offer free resources and streaming videos. Call 800-992-9392 for more information.

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Bill Walton

From BillWalton.com

Thank you for your interest in my life long problem with my speech and communication skills. I was a very shy and reserved young man who could not speak at all without severely stuttering until I was 28 years old. Always a success in the classroom and on the basketball court, I took refuge in the things that I did well as a youngster. A straight A student, my athletic abilities covered the deficiencies that limited my overall growth and development. The game of basketball was my religion, the gym my church. It was a convenient way of avoiding my responsibilities of developing my human relation skills.

When I was 28, a chance encounter at a social event with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Glickman completely changed my life in so many ways that things have never been the same since, nor have they ever been better. That day, in a very brief, private conversation (one way, mind you, since I literally could not speak at the time) Marty explained, patiently and concisely, that talking, communicating was a skill not a gift or a birthright and that like any skill, whether it be sports, music, business or whatever, needed to be developed over a lifetime of hard work, discipline, organization and practice. Marty gave me some simple tips that day and then encouraged me to take those keys and apply them to methods of learning that I had received from the special teachers that I had come across in my life, particularly the 6 Hall of Fame basketball coaches that I had played for throughout my career. The beginning of my whole new life was as simple as that. No gimmicks, tricks or shortcuts. Just the realization that with some help, guidance and a lot of hard work that I too could do what seemed so easy, simple and natural to everyone else, yet seemed impossibly out of my reach and comprehension.

Jack Paar

While Jack Paar is among the most prominent of the entertainers on the Stuttering Foundation’s list of Famous People Who Stutter, he deserves special recognition as he was among the first to openly address his stuttering in public. As host of The Tonight Show from 1957-1962, he spoke of his difficulties as a stuttering child and teenager, giving hope to young people.

Frank Wolf

This Virginian congressman has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981. The longtime supporter of the Stuttering Foundation drew national attention to childhood stuttering in 2006 when he submitted an article about Tiger Woods from the SFA newsletter to the Congressional Record. The congressman is featured in the Stuttering Foundation's Famous People Who Stutter brochure.

Lewis Carroll

The recent Disney version of Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice in Wonderland, garnered a great deal of media hype. Even though the mainstream media has not made mention that Carroll was a person who stuttered, his family history gives credence to the discovery of the genetic link to stuttering. Carroll was born to parents who were first cousins; almost all of their eleven children, three girls and seven boys, struggled with stuttering past childhood.

Ken Venturi

As much of the nation watches the U.S. Open Golf Championship, it is impossible not to think about our late friend Ken Venturi. Ken overcame many challenges to win the Open at Congressional in 1964 and go on to become the voice of golf for more than three decades.

However, Ken faced no bigger obstacle than stuttering. Ken Venturi was a champion to those who stutter, going out of his way to share his personal experience when consulted by a colleague, friend, or child who stutters.