Biden offers inspiration to those who stutter

A local teen who stutters and his speech therapist have an extra reason to watch Joe Biden give his inauguration speech next week. For the more than three million people in this country who stutter, the silver-haired, president-elect is a symbol of what's possible.

"It is amazing. He is really an incredible role model for everybody like him," said Longmont High senior Adam Benes, who has stuttered for as long as he can remember. "I think that's the most impressive thing about him - being president of the United States and to have a problem with your speech. That's all you do is you speak to everybody. I feel like he's even worked harder than others who have gotten to where he is now, because of the problems he has with his speech."

Biden began life with a serious stutter, famously reading poetry and practicing his speech in the mirror, according to an article from The Stuttering Foundation. He said he was made fun of by kids and a nun who taught him, ridiculed for verbal gaffes as a senator and vice president and labeled as having memory issues during debates.

"I think he gets an unfortunate rap from people who don't like him, that hear him have harder moments. If you look at the amount of words that he has to say in a speech that he gives and then the percentage of those words he has a harder time on, it is not a lot at all. It is one to two percent range." Benes said. "I really do enjoy watching him. He is improving himself even now every time he walks up there and has to speak."

On Jan. 20, Biden will stand before millions of people and forthrightly speak every syllable and sound of his inauguration speech. His first official act as president of the United States will be to use his voice and carefully chosen words to address a nation during one of its most tumultuous times. The moment couldn't be bigger for anyone, let alone a person who has struggled to talk.

And when there is stress, the challenges of public speaking can be even greater. Muscles tighten, making it harder for someone who stutters to say the words as they are intended, said Mary Wallace who has worked with hundreds of people like Biden through her Gunbarrel practice. She owns The Center for Stuttering Therapy where she is a Board Certified Specialist in Fluency, one of only a few hundred in the world who have achieved that level of expertise.

"Biden has come to a place in his life where he does not view his stuttering as a handicap," said Wallace. "He doesn't have 100% fluency. But he can communicate and communicate very effectively. And he shows you even when he makes mistakes in his speech, he keeps going."

Wallace said that a person's mindset is key to their success, "The attitude and emotions are the most powerful part of stuttering therapy, changing how you feel about your stuttering." She said it's important for people to understand that it's alright to make mistakes and not be embarrassed. She works with kids as young as two, teaching them to say, "I'm the boss of my talking!"

Stuttering is a neurological, physiological disorder that has a genetic component, according to Wallace. It shows up early in life, affecting 25% of preschool children ages two to four, and more boys than girls. Of those, 85% will grow out of it. It's critical that the rest get therapy as early as possible, Wallace said. The highest success rates are in kids five and under. Still, about 5% will continue to stutter as adults, though they can improve.

Addressing stuttering as early as possible makes a big difference in how a person functions throughout life, Wallace said, "If you don't get good therapy, you end up with a negative response to the moment of stuttering that makes you develop embarrassment, shame, a sense of failure, a feeling of being less than. 'I'm different. How come I can't talk?'"

There is a list of questions on Wallace's website that can help determine which kids are at high risk and she is happy to talk for free with parents and pediatricians to help them understand if a child needs therapy.

In an interesting twist of fate, five years after Wallace started working in the field, she had her own children and both her sons stuttered, giving her the unique perspective of both a parent and a therapist. She's been at it 36 years now and the passion is still in her voice. She loves seeing her clients succeed.

Wallace has been working with Benes since third grade when he came to her with a severe stutter. They met weekly for years. Now they see each other about once a month via telehealth. The hard work has paid off. "He's an incredibly successful young man. He is functionally communicative. If you talked to him you would not consider him a person who stutters," she said.

Benes credits "Miss Mary" for helping him own his stuttering and not let it define him or hold him back, "She is just so helpful with this whole thing and my whole life really. I cannot say enough good things and what she has over there [at the clinic.]"

When Benes meets people, he doesn't volunteer the fact that he stutters, but is happy to talk about it if anyone asks or if he needs to give someone a heads up, which he had to do a lot in the past year.

Benes said he had about 50 phone conversations with college baseball coaches who wanted to interview him about a possible scholarship. "On the phone is always harder, because they can't really read your face. And you're obviously a little nervous, which isn't helpful," he said. "It's a good thing for people to know about you and if you are able to reach out to people and say I do have a problem and not be embarrassed to tell any of that, it lets them see what kind of person you are. And sometimes that's really helpful."

He's excited about the roster spot he landed in a competitive year, heading to South Dakota State where he will study kinesiology this fall.

As he moves on to the next phase of life, he'll be taking along some hard-earned lessons that apply to stuttering and much more. "I think it's more about how you think people are reacting to you versus how they are actually reacting to you. How you feel versus what is real.

"Whatever problems that you have in your life, whether it be how you look, how you speak, whatever it is, it's not as bad as you think it is in your head. You're so focused on the little things that happen that aren't right, that you miss all of the things about your so-called problem that are right."

Both Wallace and Benes are excited to watch the inauguration on Wednesday. They see Biden as a role model for people who stutter. "It really lets kids that have problems with their speech know that it doesn't cast an umbrella over your entire life. It's just a piece of you that's just there and it doesn't have to be anything that holds you back," Benes said.

When Biden's speech begins, Benes said he will pay attention to what really matters. "I will not be worried about how the words come out of his mouth," Benes said, " but more about what words come out of his mouth and what they mean. Which I think is what everybody should be focused on."