The issue is that, without additional context, 99% of people have no way of knowing that a brief unexpected silence is *part* of a speech impediment. OP pushed past his block quickly enough so that no one needed to inquire further. After being informed of the situation, the “offender” immediately went from smiling to “defeated looking”. This is a pretty darn good indicator that the “offender” initially had no idea. Do you think the offender had a personality shift within the few seconds of the conversation, and now experiences shame for their bullying behavior? ? Suppose it’s possible! As a person who stutters, I don’t give two shits about the feelings of my listener (regarding my speech issues). The only reason it matters is bc most all blocking is due 100% to fear of *anticipation of being mocked*. once you realize that, in reality, most humans truly are NOT mocking us, your blocking behaviors will significantly decrease. For reference, I work as a mental health professional and frequently collaborate with speech therapists. I used the above knowledge to decrease my blocks from hundreds/day to only a few/day. I also have a post in this sub with many academic links. You are certainly welcome to hold on to your resentments, but I’d like others reading the thread to learn better information