Stuttering Teen Takes A Stand

Philip Garber Jr. has a stutter, and recently a teacher asked him not to speak during class because his disability used up too much class time. Instead of remaining silent, Garber decided to raise awareness about his issue.

The 16 year old attends Morris College in New Jersey. He says the teacher did not ask other students to not ask questions and he felt he was being discriminated.

According to WPIX, College of Morris President said, "He was in fact discriminated against in his class." Garber was moved to another class after the incident and took to the internet to talk about his struggles.

Although it was never to the extent his was, I too dealt with a stuttering problem growing up. Whenever I got upset or too excited, I would begin to stutter and found a hard time expressing myself. And it didn't help that I never shut up (and I went in to radio, go figure).

However instead of telling me to be quiet, teachers of mine found ways to channel my energy through constructive means. I would use public speaking as a way to work on slowing down and dealing with my stutter. Eventually I turned my 'therapy' in to a career, and even to this day my stutter can come back when I least expect it.

Garber also used his encounter with his teacher as a chance to tell others about his struggles and triumphs, on Youtube. He also says that everyone should have a chance to have their voice heard.

VP of Student Development at Morris College, Dr. Bette Simmons says, "The challenge is, how do you appropriately accommodate someone who has this particular disability. Especially in an academic environment. Philip is helping us learn ways to do that."