You asked to hear my story well I will gladly tell you but this is going to be long. I wish people would ask me this more often but people always seem uncomfortable about pointing out a problem they see with someone in fear of embarrassing them or whatever. Anyway, here it goes. I have stuttered since not long before my parents' divorce over 12 years ago. My older sister, 3 years older, used to stick up for me when people made fun then she started avoiding me in social settings. I don't recall the day I first started stuttering like some do. I just remember stuttering in 4th grade in my second semester. My mom always has said it is because of my horrible teacher. Everyone called her Stump the grump since her name was Mrs. Stump. She was very strict and cruel. Though I personally think it was the divorce. I blocked out a lot of my childhood memories which I believe has to do with it being a very difficult time for me. Kids made fun and bullied me because of my stutter. Called me stupid and the like as you'd expect for a person who stuttered would be. I was a very bright kid and when kids would point and laugh at me or just ignore me if I tried asking to play with them on the playground I retreated to books. I would read lots of different kinds of books from the Animal Ark books to anything by Judy Blume and Harry Potter books. I read all the time. I grew up with teachers loving me for reading so much and getting good grades to the kids hating me for being teachers pet and being a weirdo since I made stupid faces and couldn't talk. In middle school I mustered up the courage one day to raise my hand and answer a question in a large class (I was in special ed so most of my classes were pretty small) & a girl gasped and said she thought I was mute. I usually kept my nose in a book and my mouth shut when at all possible. I had few friends who stuck by me after I started to stutter and even fewer as the years went by and my stutter grew from bad to terrible. I blocked a lot. I recall one embarrassing time in 7th grade when I tried talking to a teacher after class once everyone else left. I squeezed my eyes shut and my mouth gaped open and not breathing while trying to get out a word. It sounded like I was having an asthma attack as I let out a wheezing sound at one point (my sister had asthma and so did I when I was younger). I did this a lot and really made talking a chore. I avoided speaking even more than I already did after that. I actually dropped out of college mostly because of my stutter. I tell myself I don't let my stutter get the better of me but that isn't true, every time. I work at a drive in restaurant now days and I have since become more fluent but still not great. I talk a lot at my job as you can imagine. I find that when I talk in a lower tone of voice I stutter a whole lot less and so I mostly talk in a lower tone. Though while taking an order on speaker this is not possible. I started taking anxiety meds not too long ago and it has helped me relax when at work. I still stutter when on the meds though so it is no cure. I try to talk to a beat, I just will tap on the edge of the screen or counter while taking an order or even on my leg. It works but it is easier if I just make a slight pause after each word. People never notice when I pause frankly but I usually forget to do it. When I take orders out to my customers I will tap on the bottom or edge of the tray as I repeat back the order. This almost always works until someone asks me an unexpected question or gets visibly upset to the point I need to get a manger and I panic. I let out sounds over and over or repeat words a bazillion times, etc. Actually, speaking of repeating sounds, I have actually started purposely repeating words and sounds when I feel a block while taking an order. I know when I block people don't know it and think that it the speaker is cutting out (they think this when I repeat words too but I got to try something) or something. I even realized that it is easier for me to say totals (I almost always have trouble giving customers the total for their order at the end) if I repeat back their entire order (I typically have trouble with the first item and then everything just flows out unless I get nervous and think I am going to stutter) I can flawlessly say their total in the same sentence and finish up. Having a naturally quiet voice though does not help. It bothers me tremendously when a coworker takes an order and can flawlessly do the introduction in mere seconds when I am still trying to say the name of the company. "Th-th-thanks for coming to-to-to Ssssssssonic. Can I take your order today?" I still shut my eyes at times when I have a bad stutter though never when talking to someone face to face or driving. Some of my coworkers will try to reassure me when they see me running my hand through my hair or squeezing my eyes shut while trying to speak. Others will just try to answer the speaker before I do so I don't have to stress over it. Though this is not always possible of course and some people just plain don't like taking speaker for no reason. I resent those who just don't want to take it when they can as they don't have a speech impediment or some other medical reason they can't talk on speaker but I am biased I suppose. But honestly, if you are not busy atm and here that beep don't stare at me expectantly to take it or tell me to take it, just take the freaking order. I will help you if you need it but just press the dang button already. Sorry for the incredibly long comment but you were warned. Tl;dr: I struggled with a blocking stutter as a kid since age 9. Left junior college because of my stutter after 3 years with no degree to show. I now embrace it at work in a fast food restaurant and have found some techniques to overcome it in the short run.