Maintaining eye contact

I haven't been good at posting on my blog, but I am still working on my stuttering. I am working on one thing that "Self Therapy for the Stutterer" says to do - maintaining eye contact. That is hard for me to do as I have looked away from the person I am talking to whenever I stutter or feel a block coming on ever since I was a child. It is a habit that is very hard to break. When I find that I can keep eye contact, I do see that my self esteem plays a part in it. I am better at it with friends than strangers. People who know I stutter and am doing something to try to get better are easier to keep looking at. Part of the reason may be that their expressions are not ones of pity, surprise, or repulsion, but are more of patience, acceptance, and expecting something good to happen. I find that I do better if the other person reacts better.