Are you ready for a leader that stutters?
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Are you ready for a leader that stutters?

He’s not the first

I personally do not believe that LinkedIn is the place to have a political discussion. And regardless which political party you support, and which team you are rooting for, there was a huge tectonic change in the disability world in selecting Joe Biden as our president.

He stutters. And when he is tired – his words sometimes come out jumbled. There are a few who call this a byproduct of his age or dementia, but that’s really a huge miss. Joe has embraced, acknowledge and incorporated his “differing ability” (AKA Disability) into his life.

#CripTheVote

If you aren’t familiar, this hashtag is part of the movement from the disabled community trying to show they are a critical voting bloc. You can learn more about that here.

But the question is – are you going to help support and defend him on this? Are you an ally? Can you be provocative and speak up? Even if you are the most die-hard supporter of the other team, will you stand up and say something when someone makes fun or makes an inaccurate accusation? Can you really watch this and not have any empathy?

Like me with my Dyslexia, it’s a brain wiring thing. It’s not dementia, reduced mental capacity or Alzheimer’s. Those “false diagnosis” are an insult to anyone facing those very difficult aliments.

I’m guessing it’s going to be hard and uncomfortable for some. They will see it as a weakness. They will say it’s proves he is unfit for being our president. But can they continue to ignore it as a powerful voting bloc?

From Huffpost.com:

“People with disabilities make up ‘the nation’s largest minority,’ accounting for roughly 50 million Americans, according to the Department of Labor. While many activists urged cautious optimism and encouraged others to apply continuous pressure to the Biden administration, the overwhelming response from advocacy groups and people with disabilities toward his remarks suggest many see far greater opportunity for progress under Biden than would have been possible with the outgoing president”

Kathryn Carpenter

Respiratory Disease Specialist

4 年

Excellent post, Stu. We all need to be aware and not be judgmental so quickly.

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