Consequences of Systemic Moral Issues

    Stuttering has recently been receiving publicity. Our present day president, Joseph Biden has a stutter. This sheds light on stuttering and spreads information, causing acceptance. However, with every positive there is a negative. This article is not about politics or political parties, but how moral and misinformation cause harm to the stuttering community. 

    Many young kids who stutter, boys and girls alike, now have someone they can relate to. A significant portion of their life has now been filled with a powerful person that is like them. In the stuttering community, finding similitude is a major aspect of our own comfort. Humans in general, always try to find something they share; we continuously try to form bonds and relationships. Joseph Biden can be seen as a sign of hope. People who stutter have a figure that has proven that we can conquer adversity as a person who stutters. This can be seen as progress in the stuttering world.

    With progress, there is also regression. People claimed that Joseph Biden showed mental incapacity, mocking how he talked and stumbled over his words. The results of his physical shows that he is healthy and his brain function is normal. What does this say about the claims; this was a big slap in the face for the stuttering community. Joseph Biden was seen as "not worthy" and "incapacitated" because of his stuttering and his techniques. People like myself, go through this similar struggle daily, and seeing how insensitive people are, diminishes the hope that was once brought.

    The crass comments and ideals derive from a systemic issue. "What is seen as a disability" vs "What is a disability." Many disabilities, not only stuttering, are overlooked because the social morality consequences are lower. For example, you would not go up to a person who could not walk and say "go faster," because it would be interpreted as insensitive and unthoughtful. Versus, when there is a person who stutters and you laugh at them or tell them to "hurry up" while talking. These two disabilities, one being physical and the other being a speech disability; both affect the person's social life and well-being. But ones morality consequence is seen as higher, which causes a systemic problem in the long run, that allows society to view people with invisible disabilities as less than.