Firstly, I don't think people *will* think you have a mental disability if you're blocking. The truth is, no matter how much we mind read and gleam, we don't know what people are thinking. A few bad experiences or times when people looked at you like you're an idiot doesn't mean that's the default response. Most of my experiences (and I used to block a lot; ok still do) is that they're not sure what's going on and as I eventually get out some sound they realize, ok he's trying to say/ask something and is having trouble. I've had people look at me like wtf when I first start talking, and then get confused because everything else about me is normal, so they know i'm not mentally disabled, I just have this weird problem with speaking. Ok, whatever. Even when it sucks and I feel like shit, ok this sucks and it feels like shit. that's ok and it's ok for me to feel this way. But beyond that, yes, blocking is a maladaptive behavior that we don't want to do. We do it because instead of just stuttering on our disfluencies, we hold back because we're scared or whatever reason it is. The concepts i'm talking about come from a therapy called Avoidance Reduction Therapy. The goal is 1) get rid of all the junk we do that keeps us from being able to just stutter openly and 2) become better communicators. Blocking, just like changing words or repeating the beginning of a sentence to get a running start is a maladaptive junk behavior we've unfortunately learned. The idea is to get rid of all of them so all that's left is clean open stuttering, even if it sounds ugly. Then once the junk behaviors is gone, we can work on getting the speech more efficient and comfortable. There's a lot of cognitive and affective parts of this therapy to and in practice the therapy is a lot more targeted than the outline im giving. The point of all this is to move forward in our speech. This therapy is about accepting and being ok with stuttering and learning to stutter well. In the end, that will be speaking without blocking or any or junk, just open stuttering and being ok with that since we *are* people who stutter. Most people have to work up to working on blocking, since it is a difficult habit to overcome. This would include giving yourself assignments like picking people you feel comfortable with and focusing on stuttering on the sound you'd normally auto-block on. Even if you can't hit that sound, maybe trying to work towards stuttering on it even one second before you would normally abandon (with a block) is progress. You make these baby steps until you learn how to stutter on the difficult sound instead of automatically escaping (blocking) on it. And in time you work no making the stuttering easier and less tense. That's the basis of this therapy and how it relates to blocks. Whether people accept blocking or not, that's not your problem in most situations. Unless you're at a job interview and can't move forward on any words, they'll think what they think and you'll talk the best you can. The fast food cashier isn't going to leave his/her register, the salesman isn't going to run away from your asking a question, and the doctor's office isn't going to deny you an appointment. Those aren't really things they can choose to accept or not. You might be hung up on trying to make an appointment, we've all been there. You try again and get the job in however you can. But in the meantime, you work on making baby steps to move forward. Sorry for the long reply.