First of all, aiming for fluency is totally valid and realistic. In fact I dare say that most people who have a stutter and are fluent are people who have aimed for fluency. You will not become fluent by resting on your laurels and hoping to magically one day become fluent, especially if you are an adult. There is a pervasive idea that acceptance and normalizing stuttering are the best and only way to cope with or manage stuttering. I get it and I understand that for many PWS, fluency is not a realistic goal nor should it be. But for some people, their livelihoods and dreams and even self actualization is dependent on fluency. Its ok not to accept it, its ok to hate it, it ok to strive for fluency, and its ok to do what needs to be done to achieve it. For me I use every trick I know or can think of to maintain fluency. My authentic self is fluent. I do try to keep my speech as clean as possible ie I avoid fillers (like, ah, um) and the development of secondaries (I have one really stubborn one but have gotten rid of about 3 others), but everything else is fair game. The result is 95-100% control of my speech even under pressure. Are there situations where I need to do some work? YES! but that does not mean I give up and eat the Fuckitall pill. With practice and patience, I can overcome and master speaking in any situation, it just takes some time because I, like you, have a speech defect. As for methodologies: Different things work at different times. Fluency for me is like a language, the greater my vocabulary, the more command and control I have of communicating. Similarly, the greater my tool box of pro-tips and skills, the better my command over stuttering. Theres a book called self therapy for the stutterer which has a good intro into fluency shaping and stuttering modification techniques. It takes a lifetime to truly master but **perfect practice makes perfect.** In addition, things like Vipassana meditation, challenging yourself and talking to everyone all the time, and aerobic exercise can also help immensely. Self care and personal experiences can also help a great deal. Even if you stutter severely, there's a chance I believe, that aiming for fluency might not get you to the stars, but at least you'll land on the moon. You don't have to agree with me, and there are people stuttering severely and living their best life. Its just not for me and one of my biggest fears is loosing control of my speech and having to live with a severe or profound stutter. That would quite literally ruin my life. So I work hard at being fluent just like I work hard at not being poor, or dead.