Lifelong stutterer here. Currently 43 with a good career and have a pretty solid handle on my stutter these days, but wasn’t always the case. I was a pretty happy go lucky kid too, except when it came to talking about my stutter.... You can forget it. just change the subject, please... It was (and will always be) my greatest insecurity... imagine your greatest insecurity laid bare, out there in the open for all to see (and judge)... it’s extremely uncomfortable, and very anxiety producing, which was the main fuel for my stutter: shame. Shame at not being able to control my speech, or my body language, or any of it... the whole thing snowballs out of control, and I feel like a wasted heap when it’s over. When I stopped trying to not stutter and instead focused on trying to stutter more easily, ie, ease into blocks, draw out the sounds I know I’ll stutter on, take a deep breath before I begin to speak, etc, deliberate efforts to publicly improve my speech, it forced my stutter out into the open, forced me to be open with it. And that changed everything. One piece of advice from my experience that may help you guys: 1) pls reconsider joking w him about his stutter, and finishing his sentences. It goes back to the whole biggest insecurity thing: Imagine your biggest insecurity. Even with people you know and trust, how cool would you be with openly joking about it? To anyone? Even with ppl you trust, it minimizes his struggle, and perpetuates the shame. It may cut the tension in the moment, but regardless of when he tells you it’s no big deal, i assure you it’s a very raw spot with him.... it’s the very nature of stuttering- it makes one insecure, vulnerable, helpless. Consider that he may be just “playing it off” when he goes along with the joke, bc he doesn’t want to make it a big deal. Instead, just be patient, let him take the time to get it out, no matter how long it takes. It’s important that he gets through words and phrases in a safe environment (with you), so he knows he can. Word substitutions are avoidance behaviors, and avoiding the stutter just reinforces the shame and will only perpetuate the problem. He’s so fortunate to have such a supportive parent! It sounds like with his disposition, once he comes to grips with his stutter as something he can actually do something about, he will gain a great deal of strength of character and humility as a result of getting a handle on his greatest insecurity, and will likely be a better human as a result of the ordeal, perhaps more so than if he never stuttered at all. Some crazy food for thought right there....The way it turned out for me, I wouldn’t change a thing and take away my stutter if I could, because it’s been so defining to my character, I don’t know what kind of person I’d be if I didn’t have to deal with a stutter. But ask me that question in my teens, and all I wanted to do was carve that stutter out of my body if I could. Crazy how some control changes one’s perspective. Best of luck to you guys!