I got myself to appear fluent to others by teaching English in Japan for a year (early 90s). I developed many tricks to keep the blocks under control. The tricks worked for my job/career and making money because real connection usually isn’t very important for that stuff, but, unfortunately, they haven’t worked for making friends as they inhibit spontaneity and expression. Making good adult friends is hard even for non-stutterers so I try not to dump on myself too much, but I am lonely and expect to have a lot of negative thoughts around getting along with other people for the rest of my life. There are worse problems I suppose and I have been very lucky in many ways but it is a struggle.