I'm new here too but I wanted to chime in because it sounds similar to my ds, who is now 8. I gave up on the school speech teacher. (I did make sure we had the IEP.) The Speech teacher was doing everything right but it wasn't as intensive as what my son needed. So I had the pediatrician give a referral and he went 2-3 times a week to a clinic for about 4 months.
At school, his reading confidence was plummeting because of those timed tests. He had a very skilled, patient teacher, who recognized his stuttering as a “side-effect” of his intelligence and his introvert personality. It still impacted his grade, but he didn’t care, he only remembers how patient and wonderful his teacher was to him during that tough time. She is still one of his favorites.
So far he has gone through at least 3 phases of stuttering lasting about 6 months long each. The first was when he was about 3, it was terrible. He was so distraught because he has spoken in full sentences since before he could walk and then he could barely get out 2 words together. Next was end of kindergarten, all summer and through the first half of first grade. 1st grade is when we got intensive about therapy. The ums, and ahs, diminished with self awareness, the breaks between syllables lessened with breathing exercises. Now he is in another phase where he only does it if he is excited about a topic.
But my recommendation is to keep pressure on the school but not to rely on them to be a part of the solution.
