Encouragement and patience are key. Stutterers are like icebergs, they only communicate a fraction of what they are thinking and feeling, and it is easy to forget the person behind the struggle. Also, something that no speech therapist never did with me (although I liked them all), was to ask me how I felt as a stutterer, and the frustrations of just everyday life and not being able to express yourself. I only recently had the experience of being interviewed for a forthcoming book about stuttering and it felt like a catharsis...being able to share the life experiences and frustrations of stuttering with another stutter (the author is a stutterer). It was glorious, and I wish it hadn't taken so many years to share those feelings.