"C-c-c-c-c-onnecticut," I would spit out. In college, I felt this acutely when people would ask me where I'm from and I'd get stuck on a hard "c" consonant. You're worried you're going to stutter and then because you are worried, you stutter more. When you're keyed up, as Joe Biden no doubt is when he debates, your stutter can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. And it becomes downright impossible to put together a coherent sentence when people are talking over one another because, as fellow stutterers will tell you, the hardest part is almost always starting a sentence. It gets more difficult when I'm nervous or trying to impress someone in that group. On the occasions when I've spoken before a sizable group of people, I've struggled. I can't think of a worse situation in which to conceal a stutter than during a nationally televised debate. Biden struggles to start sentences, and routinely gets stuck on the "i" when starting a sentence ("I-I-I-I," he'll say.) He has told supporters to go to the wrong campaign website and suggested parents keep the " record player on at night.'' In one instance, he appeared to stutter while talking about someone else's stutter-a child's, in fact-and was ridiculed for doing so by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the former press secretary for President Trump. Nowhere are Biden's "verbal gaffes" and choppy speaking style worse than during a debate. While I obviously can not speak to the state of Biden's cognitive abilities as a 77-year-old public figure (his doctor recently described him as "healthy" and "vigorous"), I can shed light on some of the shared experiences of people with a speech impediment. I was diagnosed with a mild speech impediment at an early age Biden said last year that he's "worked whole life to overcome a stutter." Joe Biden and I both suffer from a stutter. It's because it reminds me, a healthy 23-year-old, of myself. It's not because I'm sad to see one of the country's most prominent political figures in decline. Every time I watch Joe Biden speak, I cringe.
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