My stammering is pretty much completely covert. As such, when I have confided in others, I have been met with “you don’t stammer” or something along those lines. Avoidances have been a central feature of my life for many years, words, sounds, situations etc Sometimes, in particular wearing a face mask during covid, I have not been able to utter the first word of a sentence…this has come at a great personal cost…thankfully it has improved over time. I attended the McGuire Prog in 1999 - it made a huge difference as I could envisage a different way to live my life. What helped enormously was seeing a counsellor to work through feelings of shame and to explore ways I can identify as an effective communicator