>As far as the guy that is covert, I think he would be happier if he faced his stutter for a longer period of time, until he gains comfort stuttering. He might have fluency being covert, but he’s in a trap of his own mind. I would choose fear and exposure over being covert any day. I'm really glad I get to discuss this with someone these are just my current opinions I guess but they aren't solidified. Anyways so I totally disagree that for me and this covert individual it would be better if we stuttered openly. The reason is that for one, I don't stutter enough to even be held as a stutterer, mostly my speech impediment to the ear is so minor you wouldn't notice it basically and for example, I haven't stutterered in a month or more so the likelihood that I wouldn't enjoy the benefit of being not so severely impacted way outweighs the idea of fully and openly stuttering on every single stutter threat. The second reason is because I personally have never gotten used to the feeling of stuttering ever in my life, not once. What happens is that I stutter once every month and I'm sure a lot of people can relate but I become shocked, confused, and sometimes disoriented which is not a pleasant experience and I don't really believe you can fully accept that feeling but again just my current opinion. The third reason is that for instance I find people who are in shape and not too overweight as attractive and for instance on the flip I don't find a speech impediment would be particularly too attractive - this matters just at the personal/social level but I would say that we for sure know scientifically that people who appear more attractive are treated more fairly in almost all aspects of life which is a hard truth to come by. Also, and this is a bit of a dagger but exposure that you're suggesting is supposed to work I agree. But, it works in the sense that it makes you braver not less afraid. So in a sense I guess it's a little defeating to be told that. "And choosing to not say the words we want to say will never allow us to reach our full potential in life. It’s like when someone goes into a wheel chair and then their muscles begin to atrophy. It’s the same thing being covert. The more we don’t speak those feared words, the smaller inside we become. Until each feared word has become a bar, forming a prison cell around us. Tell me if you see it a different way. I’d be happy to hear that someone actually feels happy and content being covert, or is it just a tolerable experience?" In my covert experience I can pretty much say what I want to say if I feel it necessary. Because I laid out some of my values about how I view stuttering for myself is that I personally don't even believe in "happiness" because I believe that life is suffering and I believe that many stutterers experience the additional burden of stuttering in similar ways as you can see through statistics. Look here's how being covert and going through social anxiety therapy is for me: I put myself in social situations where I can speak my opinion where I would normally be afraid to do so. When I can avoid a stutter or block I usually do. Now when I do stutter, the therapy is teaching me to rethink how I react to the stutter which has sort of developed into a "ok I stuttered, it was uncomfortable obviously, but it came out and since it's rare I should be more grateful in that sense". I think your wheel chair analogy works for severe stutterers who literally don't have a choice. So in regards to being content I'm going to refer to the literature and say that in all likelihood if you stutter you do experience a lower quality of life as they often point out so. "Though I totally understand that if someone hasn’t learned any speech technique, then being covert seems like the only option" Agreed.