Thank you for sharing this thoughtful piece. I vaguely remember myself not stuttering when I was in my early days of school. To be frank, I exactly don't remember from when I started stuttering, but this has been a part of my life from when I started understanding things. I echo myself with all the things you shared. Even till graduation, I couldn't completely accept myself. I never took the opportunity to participate in public speaking or giving presentations. Even the thought of speaking in front of a group of people freaked me out. I was so worried about my chances in cracking an interview during the end of my graduation. It's two years since I am doing my job. I have started to accept myself. It is difficult sometimes, I feel frustrated and have many depressing days. But, I somehow developed the courage to not care of what other thinks when I stutter. I try to maintain a friendly environment where the other person can feel free to ask me to repeat myself, if they had any trouble understanding. But, there are also instances where people make inhuman fun, whom I choose to ignore and wait for my time. Now, I give presentations at my office, I stutter, I repeat the information until I feel I did what I could. It has been difficult and I am happy to say that I at least took a step forward to accept my self and my fears. I hope that one day, I will give a presentation/speak in public without any fear. I am thankful to my family and friends who are all supportive, without whom I wouldn't have come this far. And, this community is a gold mine I found. I feel so connected to every post in this sub and feel very happy about how welcoming and comforting each and every response is. Once again, thank you for sharing your precious experience and lessons for life. PS : I'm also the single shy guy in the room.