Yes. Noticed this with my son who's very young (also came to this assumption after reading posts on here for a while as almost every post mentions how OP is v focused on people's perception of them) He's self confident (believes he knows how to stop stuttering) but has a very strong and VERY critical inner monologue. The problem is any criticism, even valid, can bring him down and can cause regression. It's a tricky slope to be on as I'm trying to pull him out of stuttering (have done so twice previously). Too much leeway and it's turned into coddling and spoiling, too much accountability and now we're overly critical with his inner monologue is compounding the affect when he's alone