E7: Philip Rodrigues

Philip Rodrigues was born and raised in Toronto to Portuguese immigrant parents who were fluent in English. He is married, works in IT, and enjoys biking and playing video games in his free time.

Before starting junior kindergarten, Philip was diagnosed with a speech disability that included a stutter, a lisp, and delayed sentence formation. He worked one-on-one with a speech-language pathologist and participated in special education programs until grades 3-4, after which he no longer faced significant speech challenges. While he has overcome his stutter and lisp, Philip feels he still relies on verbal crutches to communicate effectively.

Now a reserved and quiet individual, Philip’s hesitancy to speak up may stem from his early struggles with communication. Despite this, his wife describes him as being surrounded by chatty and outgoing people, including herself and his family, and she believes he might secretly share their sociable nature.