Totally understand you and I share your frustrations and feelings of being misunderstood in every way possible. Very well written post as well, you express yourself so well. The real shame is the lack of general awareness and education surrounding stuttering. As a Canadian, I get even more frustrated that the so called 'stuttering associations' that represent us do virtually nothing besides flaunt paid events for stutters to gather together. This does nothing for the public to understand what it is we face and go through. The amount of job offer's I've lost out on simply because I can't deliver a fluent interview is beyond counting at this point. I can tell in the exact moment when the recruiter/interviewer does a little sigh and in their head thinks "yea this guy can barely communicate, write off". These are the cards we were given so I've come to find the best path is to develop steel skin and just push forward regardless of how you are perceived. Everyone deals with some problem to some degree whether it's stuttering or another deficiency in any aspect of their life. I'm not 100% at this approach it (Don't think any reasonable human can be). I have good and bad days, but I know if I were to put my power/happiness in the reaction of other people, I would be miserable for the rest of my life.