>You're telling yourself a bonafide part of you is wrong and bad and needs to be eliminated I'm saying it needs to be managed. Not even fluent speakers are 100% fluent so 100% fluency is not a realistic goal. >you can't have some stuttering be ok and other kinds be not ok. You're kind of losing me here. There's a huge difference between a small hiccup and long block after long block. One totally obstructs communication. Think of it like body fat: 5-10% is good, 35% is way too much. >But most people don't want to change such a natural part of who they are and even those who try often come up short. Maybe we've been talking to different crowds, but if you're totally good with it then I applaud your mindset and I'd never try to change that. >The fluency shaping success stories are few and far between for a reason, It's a really limited option imo. I've seen enormous strides with it; the hard part is keeping up with the practice after the program ends though. I like fluency shaping because it reduces the problem to what it is: the sum of its parts (i.e. being able to coordinate respiration, phonation, and articulation.) The approach is scientific and practical. >And blocking is kind of the opposite of pure stuttering, it's a learned avoidance behavior (usually subconscious). This is an interesting point you bring up, and I'll need to think it over a bit. I always thought of blocking as more minor, child-like stuttering taken to its logical end point (pushing being a natural response.) On second thought I'm liking your approach. I'll end on this point: I don't really know if stuttering is a "bonafide part of" who I am. It's really just something that I do, and not even all the time. Am I not being myself when I don't stutter? Come to think of it, I don't know any qualities that would be part of my "true self." I used to think that I was cursed, that it was beyond my control... But when I was able to reach a physical understanding of it and the processes involved it really helped me understand it differently and de-mystify it. Anyway, good luck. We're in the struggle together and I enjoy the exchange of perspectives.