Pennsylvania Capitol Building in Harrisburg, Pa. (Photo by Amanda Berg for the Capital-Star).
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill to ensure insurance coverage of speech therapy for children who stutter. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Brandon Markosek (D-Allegheny), speaks with a stutter, and explained on the House floor why the bill was necessary.
“When you can catch stuttering early, a lot of good things can happen: You can seek treatment. People start to understand your problem. Teachers see you differently,” Markosek said. He added he endured bullying and was treated differently as a child because of his stutter.
He added that he still uses many of the techniques he learned in speech therapy. “So given my position now, talking in front of you, I feel it proper that I give a voice to those that sometimes don’t.”
Between 5 and 10% of American children stutter for some period of time, and about 3 million Americans stutter. While most children outgrow their communication disorders, 25% do not, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
“I stutter almost every day, and even for me, some days are good and some days are bad, but to that point, I don’t let it define me,” he said. “If we can at least get kids the treatment they need, we can get Pennsylvania children headed in the correct direction.”
State Rep. Manuel Guzman (D-Philadelphia), said he also had a stutter as a child, and didn’t speak until age 4. “I spoke with my mother this morning about this bill and about what it was like to be a mother of five children, and having one of her children needing specialized therapy that sometimes she could not afford,” Guzman said, adding his mother took on extra work to pay for his therapy. “Unfortunately, this condition is too often stigmatized within our communities, particularly in our brown and Black communities,” he said.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 181-21 and heads to the Senate for consideration.
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