"Empty barrels make the most noise!"
Couldn't agree with you more (although - I can natter for England!!). He's got an extremely high IQ and usually genuinely enjoys everyone elses chatter, but this si getting a bit extreme.
It's baltantly obvious he's struggling, I order for both of us eating out or he just signals 'times two' and eats the same meal as me. He hands me the money for the bus so he doesn't have to speak to the bus driver, same renting a video - or anything really. I realised he hasn't said a word to anyone while he hasn't drunk alcohol. He uses 'mmmm' so skillfully I didn't notice at first. If he hands me money instead of getting something himself he does it sort of naturally. In restauraunts I realised he won't talk when I ordered a meal he didn't like for me - he still just held up two fingers and smiled! AND he ate the meal!!
He did have a drink last week because he got over 90% in his Open Uni, he regretted it but I noticed him talking outside the house - so I asked.
He said there were two years when he was a kid that he couldn't even get a sound out, but in the end he got over it, enough - just. Now he said if he thinks it'll happen again he daren't try because if it does happen it makes it even worse. He said it's like his stammer in that he knows it's in his head but he's still too scared of loosing control.
He also said when he first drank as a kid the thing he loved was that he never even thought about speaking - he could just do it, for the first time since about the age of 7!! He doesn't excuse what happened because of that, he still chose to drink.