I knew I would get a response like this
Note that we have shamed him into silence.
But yeah I do have a stutter, and recently it's been pretty severe. When I was a kid it wasn't so bad and it rarely bothered me, but the older I get the worse it gets. I don't have the kind of stutter where I repeat words, I just block all the time. I simply can't get the word out. It's like an invincible force is keeping my mouth shut, I usually have to replace words (which doesn't work most of the time).
It's just so frustrating. I'm a normal looking guy, I don't have tics or anything like that. I've been told I'm cute looking and I think I have a good personality, but my dating life is non-existent. Social life is tough too, but I have a few close friends, so I manage.
I did speech therapy when I was younger, don't remember it helping.
You think I should still try dating? I'm still 19 so it's not a huge focus (yet) but dating is something I've really started to think about. I just don't know how the hell I can carry a conversation when I can't even say the sentence I want.
With people who aren't family are close friends, I usually just say 6-10 words at a time so I don't stutter. Any more and I'll start blocking. Even then I can't say certain words.
I apologize for assuming you were referring to someone other than yourself, but hopefully my story empowers you.

When my stutter is severe, it's mostly blocking as well.
Of course you should try dating. That's what I did.

Online dating was much easier for me for many reasons, my stutter being one of them. (Although it helps that I'm a woman, I've had people say my stutter is "cute" and I'm like, "Gee, thanks."

) I'm already an extreme introvert and I'm extremely nerdy. I just don't meet many people who live at my speed. When I met my now-husband, we lived an hour from each other.
As I mentioned before, he's an introvert and REALLY doesn't like mindless chatter so not speaking a lot was totally cool for him. It was important for me as an introvert as well, because I'm very comfortable with silence and he is too. I've noticed that all the other guys I went on dates with were often uncomfortable with silence. But that's what most relationships end up being after you move in together.
I also encourage you to try vocal/singing lessons. It's not specifically speech therapy, but I've had multiple stutterers tell me their speech was improved after they took singing lessons. In high school, I did a retreat where they taught opera singing techniques, using your ribs and diaphragm to breath deeply before speaking. Opening the back of my throat, like I'm yawning, to make my voice more resonant (also a singing technique) helps a lot too. It was the very first time I discovered that I could speak fluently, and it was a downright revelation for me. After that, I knew I was physically capable of doing it (if I practiced controlled breathing regularly), now it was a matter of placing my mind in a place where I can do it more and more often.
Are you a perfectionist? I am, and I've got a very strong sense of empathy so I start to panic when I sense that someone is getting bored or wants to leave a conversation with me. That's when my stutter gets really bad.
Toastmasters and networking events helped me a lot mentally. I've had awful speeches at Toastmasters where I stutter a ton, but I keep going and I survive every single one, and that empowers me. I've identified that my stutter gets worse if I haven't spoken in public in a long time, so it becomes A HUGE F***ING DEAL in my mind and then the anxiety takes over.
You have to teach your brain that speaking isn't a big deal.
Toastmasters also helps to teach that public speaking isn't about speaking like a robot, but about bringing your own personality out. I've found that my stutter basically disappears if I'm focused on the message I want to communicate, using my own personality to bolster that message.
Networking events help me practice taking myself out of my own head. Instead of worrying about how I come off to others, I've taught myself to listen to other people. My stuttering gets better then too, because I'm not worrying about me.
Calling other people was the last obstacle for me - I still hate doing it. But I phone-banked for Hillary Clinton's campaign, which was terrifying, but I did it. And that's another notch on my belt.
The only way that a stutter gets better is if you put yourself out there. I promise it isn't as scary as it seems.
And even if it doesn't get better, that's ok too. When I did that retreat in high school for my stuttering, the most go-getter person there was a guy who was overweight, balding, wore glasses, and had one of the most severe stutters I've ever heard. But he was accompanied by his beautiful and extremely supportive fianceé, who was with him every single day. It hadn't mattered to her that he could barely get through a sentence without stuttering, it was clear that it was his personality that won her over. They've been married for a while and have two daughters, and he's been promoted to assistant director in his organization.
What you do is always more important than the superficial means of how you do it. You shouldn't let your stutter stop you from doing what you want to do. James Earl Jones (yup, Darth Vader himself) had a severe stutter growing up, so much so that he was basically mute until he was in high school. The world obviously would be less awesome without his voice in it.
