"Can't speak cause she's a freak" was something I heard all the time from kids in grade school because I was mute. I graduated from that school in 2006, but I still hear those words in my mind frequently, especially in the instances where I freeze up and Selective Mutism takes over. The nicer kids would simply ask me why I don't talk, but of course I couldn't answer.

From adults I always heard the standard "You're quiet" or the sarcastic "Don't talk so much next time"

I remember one time as a little girl at the library, when my dad came to pick me up the librarian said to him "She's shy...but a good kid" as if being shy is a negative trait. It stung too, because I had started to trust this woman enough to talk to her a little. When she said that though, my trust was shattered and I couldn't talk to her anymore because I felt judged.

Whenever I'm told that I'm quiet, I want to say so badly "Yes. Please follow my example."

From what I've seen, when very shy people do manage to talk, what we say actually matters and it's genuine, unlike many other people who don't seem to have a single unexpressed thought.