I am 61 years old and I had severe stuttering issues from age 7 to 13. To this day, I can still occassionally get stuck or find myself unable to pronounce certain words. So, what causes it never goes away completely and the social anxiety and fear of speaking still affect me to some degree. It definitely affected my perfomance in high school when I was a waste of a perfectly good chair. Kids are so cruel and I was also under sized and stammered whenever my anxiety overwhelmed me. It still could if I allow it to do so. In my case, it is genetic. My brother stuttered badly until age 15, but still gets stuck or stammers as I do at the age of 58. First things first, I allowed others to make me feel stupid and my parents did nothing to dispel that belief. Over time, both of us realized we were not only smart, but were actually smarter than most. After high school you are better able to define yourself and you learn what the peanut gallery thinks and says is absolutely meaningless and nothing anyone should think about. Once we addressed our anxiety and acknowledged our hyper sensitivity to stimuli, we could both address the fear and anxiety only to find we could speak without a stutter. Instead of pushing through and getting stuck, we would use a thoughtful pause to collect ourselves or to find another word that will come out more easily. Still, I was almost 40 before I was able to speak up in a large group. Once I had more confidence and was more able to control my emotions, it got easier. I also did things like write down all of my thought for a meeting and even practice what I wanted to say while alone at home or driving. Deep relaxation techniques are worth the time. Stress management, proper diet, avoiding stimulants, and a full night of sleep EVERY night allows an over sensitive nervous system to reset and heal. I also have a 17 year old child who still stutters, and my experience helping her has expanded my list of recommendations. First, if you are totally overwhelmed, then the school and teacher need to be read in. My daughter, despite being an exceptionally gifted AP student, received special accommodations and regular speech therapy until 9th grade. She practices deep relaxation and makes time for downtime and self care. If she games for 4 hours on a Friday night, she stutters that evening and it is her one counter productive habit. I recommend against excessive gaming or even studying too hard for too long. Exhaustion, whether physical or emotional will trigger stammering/stuttering and excessive last minute studying typically brings test scores down instead of up. My main message is there is no silver bullet cure and there never will be, but there are best practices that, when consistently combined, can greatly reduce or almost completely eliminate the symptoms. Be easy on yourselves, screw what others think, and gently and consistently stay on task and life WILL get better, but not by accident. Self care trumps self-pity anytime. Don't give up and try to not let the frustration take control of your feelings and decisions. This is a journey, not a destination and these practices would help anyone, speech problems or not. Best of luck to you all. Peace.