On October 5th 1994. Joshua Malik Wright was born. He was the 2nd of 3 boys. His elder brother started speaking at 1 year old, stringing sentences together.

 

Joshua at 2 years old could only say 2 words, mama and dada. His parents thought he had autism or some form of disability. He went through a myriad of tests both locally and internationally and was finally referred to Speech Therapist Andrea Wray.

 

By this time he was 3 years old. Andrea Wray was the first person to diagnose Joshua with Developmental Speech Apraxia. This lead to 7 years of speech therapy.

 

This did not eliminate the challenges faced in school, social isolation, insecurity, teasing, frustration and most of us the feeling of never being heard, which he carries with him to today.

 

His biggest fear was having to speak in public, often leading to panic attacks.

 

At 18 years old, Joshua decided to change his life and stop being held back by these self-inflicted walls and maximize on his own gifts. He believed hard work would speak for itself. Against all odds, he was accepted into the UWI Medical School, graduated at the top of his class, became a Rhodes Scholarship finalist and on November 13th 2018, Dr. Joshua Wright, delivered his valedictorian speech at the Faculty of Medical Sciences Graduation, finally accomplishing his dream of being able to speak clearly, boldly and being understood in front of thousands.

 

He now vows to do his part to help other children with speech impediments to feel their worth, to not feel less than others and to guide them to get the necessary resources they need to fulfill their potential.