The Lab School of Washington chose Biden to be the keynote speaker at its 25th anniversary gala in November
2009. The first school of its type in the nation, its mission is to transform lives for students with attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, and other learning differences. It uses an innovative arts-based curriculum — both experiential and multi-sensory — to help young people overcome difficulties with reading, spelling, writing, and math, while preparing them for a range of college and career choices...
Biden won over the audience by telling The Lab School that he was one of them. He noted that throughout history, “to be great is to be different,” mentioning famous figures with learning disabilities, such as Jesus and Luther.
When growing up, Biden said, he had a terrible stutter, which he demonstrated to the crowd. “I co- co-couldn’t talk.”
“God’s gift to me was my stuttering,” he said. But he also warned, “Don’t let your learning disability define you.”
“If I could share one piece of advice with all of those struggling with a stutter, it would be this: When you commit yourself to a goal and when you persevere in the face of struggle, you will discover new strengths and skills to help you overcome not only this challenge, but future life challenges as well. I promise you — you have nothing to be ashamed of, and you have every reason to be proud,” Biden penned in a
2015 letter to the Stuttering Foundation of America.