As a speech-language pathologist who works with people who stutter, it pained me to read “wobbly old geezer” and “stutters” in the same sentence in the Angry Poodle column. Clearly both were intended to be equivalent and derisive.

Stutterers, like President Biden, deserve understanding, tolerance, and patience as they express themselves … not cheap shots. I hope readers will educate themselves since there is so much misinformation about this communication challenge.

Nick Welsh reflects an old belief that persists to this day: It’s okay to joke about stuttering. It’s time to retire “stutterer” as a punch line.

We are all better than that!

Get News in Your Inbox

Login

Please note this login is to submit events or press releases. Use this page here to login for your Independent subscription

Not a member? Sign up here.