Free speech therapy an important benefit

Your article “Arlington Heights teen with stutter now a Harvard extrovert” was definitely a breath of fresh air for people who stutter as well as people with a friend or loved one who stutters. During my youth in the 1970s, I did not read one positive article about stuttering or a person who stutters. It is heartening to know that because of this article, 18-year-old Joe Sessions is likely a role model to many young people who stutter who saw the article. Something like this never would have happened in the “dark ages” of my youth. Joe Sessions could not be more accurate when he said that having a stuttering problem is a gift in that it makes us more understanding and compassionate to people with other disabilities.

I want to address the issue of speech therapy in relation to the article. The public at large does not know that the U.S. government provides free speech therapy for every child with any type of speech problem from preschool through high school. All children are eligible for this free therapy, even if their families are well off. The website of The Stuttering Foundation (www.stutteringhelp.org) has a brochure called “Special Education Law and Children Who Stutter” that explains this benefit of free speech therapy. Again, the program covers all speech problems. The Stuttering Foundation website also lists many free resources to help people who stutter. It is a nonprofit organization.

If Joe Sessions has political aspirations, I am sure that we will be reading about him in the future! I wish him well in his freshman year at Harvard.

Carlo Peluso

Arlington Heights