Teenager Shares How Joe Biden Helped Him Feel More Confident About His Stutter

What happened: 13-year-old Brayden Harrington shared how Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden helped him embrace his stutter in a speech on the fourth night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Harrington met Biden a few months ago in New Hampshire where the former vice president told Harrington, “We were members of the same club: We stutter.”

“[Joe Biden] told me that we were members of the same club: we stutter. It was really amazing to hear that someone like me became Vice President,” Brayden Harrington #DemConvention

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— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) August 21, 2020

The Frontlines: Biden, who received the Democratic ticket for the U.S. 2020 Presidential Election last night, has been open about his lifelong experience with having a stutter. In a CNN Town Hall in February, Biden said he “still occasionally, when I find myself really tired,” catches himself stuttering.

• More than 70 million people around the world and 3 million people in the United States have a stutter, according to The Stuttering Foundation.
• Some other famous people with a stutter include Kendrick Lamar, Carly Simon, Marilyn Monroe and Jimmy Stewart.
• 40 to 80 percent of stuttering children outgrow their stutters. Stuttering modification treatments have not been studied so intensively for adolescents who develop stutters.

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A Mighty Voice: Contributor James Hayden, who stutters, reflected on the impact seeing a presidential nominee like Biden who stutters could have on other children. “I wish I’d had this for my 10-year-old self. Not only would 10-year-old James know he’s not the only person in the world who stutters, but that he can (and will) accomplish incredible things in his life.” You can submit your first-person story, too.

From our community: 

does your anxiety cause you to stutter #Anxiety #SpeechImpediment #Stutter

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Other things to know: While Biden shared book recommendations and other advice with Harrington for how to have more confidence with his stutter, there are many different activities that people with stutters can do to manage their speech. Here are first-person stories from people who wrote about what worked for them:

• How Podcasting Is Helping Me Embrace My Stutter
• How Drama Classes Helped Me as a Person Who Stutters
• How Speech Therapy Helped Me Accept My Stutter

Learn more: You can watch Harrington’s full speech at the Convention below.