My confidence got a lot better as I got older and I feel this the most important thing. I think my speech has generally improved but it is really hard for me to judge. I was so self-conscious growing up that I hardly spoke to strangers. I remember painful calls where I couldn't get out the first syllable and people would hang up. I don't have that problem now. I still block and have bad patches, it is hard to judge how they compare when I was younger.