I understand and agree with your intended point about public acceptance. However, some people have hard blocks to the point of being unable to say necessary things with proper tone, timing and cadence, making it nearly impossible to accurately communicate with people. (TONE IS SO IMPORTANT TO MEANING THAT JUST SEEING THESE UPPERCASE LETTERS CAN CAUSE UPSET!) These blocks can also be extremely physically and emotionally draining, resulting in people running out of energy to keep talking. Some avoid interactions all together. “Building up confidence” often needs tangible steps to be attainable, as not everyone has the internal or external support to “just do it”, especially if they *mostly* have significant silent blocks. These are the steps I created after listening to a free podcast from a SLP who specializes in dysfluency and is a PWS as well. To your point- Letting others hear your repetitions can be a very effective way to get more confidence! 1. Make phone calls while doing voluntary repetitions, and making eye contact with yourself in the mirror. 2. Begin talking on a regular size exhale, with regular eye contact, and begin slowly. 3. Enunciate as you talk. 4. Review and practice these steps *as often as possible*. 5. Disclose by directly telling people (which is too terrifying for some at first!), or having voluntary repetitions. Note - when a PWS begins quickly, their brain hears “I gotta get this over w quickly bc it’s scary and I’m bad at talking”. I’ve found that beginning slowly immediately calmed my brain. Also, for anyone unconvinced, experiment alone w taking on exhale vs inhale. Within 2 months of starting, I dramatically reduced debilitating *blocks*, to the point of going weeks without anything that I noticed. I definitely still have brief repetitions, but they no longer cause me emotional distress, as they did before. The SLP is Tim Mackesey.