Politics and Speech! Do They
Go Hand in Hand?
by Michael Cohen, M.Ed
As
most of you know, to succeed in a political career you must be
able to verbally communicate fast and clearly. There is a question
that I have been wondering, and I hope that this article will help
answer my query.
Why is it that we do
not see very many people with speech disabilities out in the political
or business world? Yes, many people with speech disabilities are
very intelligent, yet because of the way they have been treated
by many people in the disability and non-disability community,
it is hard to continue to prove themselves as capable and intelligent
people. Why do I say this? Unfortunately, having a disability for
many also accompanies the idea that a person with a disability
has entitlement. I think that is a self-fulfilling prophesy. Many
people with disabilities that I have talked with feel that the
government owes them because of what they have to deal with everyday.
I think that this is a sad state—to see people live with this
belief. Yes, living with a speech disability may put up more barriers
on your life—if you let it.
You need to take chances in life and get out in the world and say, “I
have abilities that do work.”
Yes, living with a speech impediment is not fun. People may not
want to give you the time of day, simply because they are embarrassed
that they cannot understand you. Yet, this should not prevent people
with any kind of disability from getting involved in political work.
People should not just expect a person to be given things from the
government without putting in some kind of work or effort. This work
might mean being a volunteer on a campaign or better yet, they can
run for political seat.
During the past two years I have been very active in a number of
political campaigns, both local and statewide. When was the last
time you met a political candidate with a speech impediment or a
candidate who has a committee chair with a speech impediment? I personally
have never met a person running for any position, local or state,
who had a speech impediment or a committee chair with a speech impediment,
besides me. I know of other people with disabilities who have run
for office and are currently serving the State of Minnesota in one
capacity or another. But these people are vision impaired or blind,
thus they are able to communicate their thoughts and ideas and answer
any questions in a timely manner.
Because the political
arena involves having to communicate thoughts and ideas and answer
questions without any hesitation, it’s
highly unlikely you’ll see a person with a speech impediment
holding an elected high profile position. Until more people with
speech impediments are willing to take chances to run for a political
seat, whether it is city or state, I do not think we will be seen
as equal even though we have the mental ability to think clearly.
Our speech disability interferes at times in opening up opportunities
socially, business and politically.
For those of you who are offended by this statement, it is not done
to hurt anyone or any group of people, but it is a fact. I have had
to come to terms with this fact because of a political opportunity
that came my way. I was not willing to just sit back and not get
involved.
During this last year,
there were many local city council races and in St. Louis Park
there was an open seat, which I decided to take the opportunity
and run for. Because there were three candidates running for the
open seat, there had to be a primary. I made it through the primary,
which was a nice surprise. After the primary, it was eight weeks
until the election. There was a lot of work involved with the campaign.
Many of the voters I reached were open to asking me to repeat what
I said if they were not able to understand. There were also many
people who were uncomfortable with my speech and some would not
even acknowledge my presence, this is why I say you won’t
find a person with a speech impediment in a high profile office,
even though developmentally they may be as sharp as a tack.
