My inner message is "I can't do this" and for myself I also know that isn't true because look what I have done so far? I have decided to accept help from a trained professional and that is no small feat for us stutterers. You see? I know this but deep down, I don't believe it. That needs to change. And I can so relate to being around others who just don't understand a stutter. I found the courage last year to finally openly talk about my stutter with my siblings and it was quite touching to see how much all of them actually cared and wanted to help. They were upset though that they really can't do much except just offer moral support. I understand that frustration because it splits me into two worlds. On one hand, here are these great group of people who want to help, but on the other hand it is only me who can do this. My siblings can just offer encouragement. It sounds like your son's siblings have the right way of approaching it. By meeting others who stutter, they learn that stuttering is no easy thing to deal with. I think as stutterers that is the one positive thing we have. We have so much compassion for others who have their own problems (both stutter and non-stutter related) that when we hear their stories, we just want to open up our hearts because while we cannot fully relate, we feel their pain.