I am 34 and continue to block every day. For quite a long time I felt similarly to you. I disliked the hidden disability aspect of stuttering. I felt more of a hindrance than an asset in social situations. With experience and on reflection my thoughts were completely wrong. I would encourage you to challenge your perception of what is going on. People who stutter have a lot of negative social situations and there is a danger that over time all social situations are seen as negative. In reality you can never know what a person is really thinking. ​ >I (24M) have been dealing with a severe block since childhood. Thanks to it i fail 80-90% of basic interactions with people and almost all first impressions. How are you defining a failure? I needed to call up some people to do some work on my house. I stuttered on every call to varying degrees. I persevered and said everything that had to be said. I was understood and I have a bunch of people coming round to give quotes. A little while ago I had to report to one of the directors at a company I work at. Had a torrid time talking but got across everything. I was a bit worried about it to be honest but tried not to dwell too much on it. A few days later they got in touch again asking my thoughts on something. I was worrying about how I came across originally but obviously they valued my opinion regardless of the delivery. ​ >i cant start speaking without severely disrupting the dynamic and them pausing awkwardly for a long while Are you disrupting the conversation or contributing towards it? If you are being included in a group or conversation they obviously want to get to know you better and hear what you have to say. Some people might be awkward about your blocking. There could be a whole range of reasons why they feel awkward towards your blocking. Most are their problem. Not yours. ​ >There are times when i am so excited to express myself but then i stumble with the first syllable and subsequently retreat to my safe my space away and listen without saying anything. I would encourage you to express yourself. You never know. Something nice might happen. ​ >People with blocks on the other hand are expected to be normal, till we open our mouths. We are neither here nor there in the realm of normality. What is normal? I block loads. I consider myself normal. My partner has a condition where it is sometimes painful to walk. A hidden disability.. they do their best and they consider themselves normal. Have you considered when you last met someone who was unusual? I was at a conference and I met a guy with a really unusual voice. It was like a screech. Caught me completely off guard, I gave him a (wot is this!?) look and I am fairly certain he observed me reacting to his voice. I got passed it quickly and we had a great chat and exchanged numbers. I used the above example because the look I gave him is the look strangers often give me when I first stutter. A "something unusual is happening" expression flashes across them. I used to think that was world ending and it meant people had no interest in what I am saying. Turns out it is a fairly normal reaction when a person is presenting with something they don't see every day.