Your son sounds a *lot* like I was. > He's a happy soul and says no-one mentions it at school Exactly the same for me. At least, nobody spoke about it around me. I'm sure there'd have been times where people spoke about it between themselves, but I was never insulted or made fun of because of my stutter. >He reluctant to deal with people - cashiers etc. This took my a while to get through. My speech therapist tried very hard to push me to talk to people in shops when buying things, over the phone, etc. This didn't work as I was under lots of pressure and your son may be to. If you're in a shop with him and he has the opportunity to ask a staff worker something, **don't** suggest he does. He will feel much more relaxed knowing that it's up to him whether he talks or not. At home or in a safe location for him where he feel relaxed you could suggest how he might say a few words to someone, like a cashier, in public if he feels comfortable. I found speech therapy not all that helpful. They mentioned glides, and other techniques to overcome the stutter but they were very situational and I found it was easier to find what worked for me. For me, it was just speaking slower and taking more time. Also, if it helps reassure you at all, my stutter was pretty much exactly the same as you describe your son's to be. I'm now able to happily speak to people in public, make phone calls without hesitation, and when I do stutter it's fairly subtle. If you have any questions in the future I'm very happy to help!