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my journey of stuttering by blocks Hey everyone, I’ve had a stuttering issue since I was about six years old. My parents noticed how I would rep-rep-repeat the beginning of some words, but by the time I turned 10, it just disappeared. I started speaking fluently, as if nothing had ever happened. However, during high school, it came back—but in a different way. This time, it wasn’t repetition; it was blocking. When I tried to say certain words, especially ones starting with consonants like "K," "D," or "Q," I would just get stuck. My mouth would be open, my tongue doing its best, but the word wouldn’t come out. It was so frustrating and embarrassing, especially when reading aloud in class. I could be speaking fluently, then suddenly freeze on a simple word for two seconds, struggling before finally forcing it out. I noticed that when I’m alone or talking with close family, it happens way less. But under stress, when I lose confidence, or even when I’m angry, it gets much worse. Now, at 24, working as an engineer in the corporate world, I’ve learned to cope with it. I developed a few mechanisms to make it less noticeable, like replacing a word with a synonym if I feel I’m about to get stuck, slowing down my speech and inserting small pauses to anticipate difficult words, and taking a breath before saying tricky words to help them flow out more easily. That said, it’s not perfect. Sometimes I forget to apply these techniques, and I still get stuck. But I’ve learned to deal with it and not let it hold me back. I’d love to hear from others with a similar experience. Do you have any advice or feedback? How do you manage stuttering in professional or social settings? Let’s share and support each other!