I"m just writing a new message bc my first response was full of confusing edits. I have literally done the agreement-fist when reading lots of your comments because I think you get right to the core of these issues in a way that probably truly helps many internet strangers. So, we generally agree. The issue of anxiety is tricky and I think some of the issue/disagreement is mostly semantics. I may have a bias because I am a person with significant general anxiety and I have worked in the field of mental health. But when I refer to anxiety in this context, I am not referring to a specific diagnosis - I'm just talking about anticipatory fear. The question is: What caused that to develop in the first place?? There's a tiny, subtle, hard to describe thing that goes on with anxiety. I'll just state a few things I believe to be true, without coming to any conclusions. \- If you have difficulty ordering food or saying your name in a neutral situation, that indicates that situational anxiety is NOT (necessarily) happening. I didn't block because the current situation made me nervous, rather, because many years prior, I got the message that my repetitions were shameful and I should try VERY hard to fix them. \- I'm sure many PWS can have a huge reprieve from anxiety when they learn to speak with more fluency. \- There are different "type" of anxiety/fears, that can manifest in a variety of ways, or just in response to very specific scenarios. Some anxieties/fears are beneficial. While anxiety/fear can be debilitating, it does not automatically mean you are inherently weak or incompetent. \- impactful dysfluency comes from having some sort of predisposition toward bumpy speech, and getting the message (probably as a young child) that your early, regular repetitions were bad \- fear of stuttering (and people thinking of you as A Stutterer) creates anxiety. Trying to hide from it creates more impactful stuttering.