We do a sort of pssssht, so very good point. 
Once in front of the leg, she will stay there pretty well, so it’s another good tool for getting there.
Not particularly, though my trainer was great when I was recovering from nerve damage on the left side (which I now know was likely worse due to EDS). He taught my horses to react to just the tiniest muscle twitch on the left because that was all my left side could do at the time. Same, when I struggle he can revisit in front of the leg with the horses. But hopefully I will get there on my own. Some of the ideas here were related to what we were doing before lockdown.
As for spurs - I prefer keeping them for collection and bend so I am not retraining how to respond to them when I move up the levels
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Do you have stiff boots? I agree with the suggestion to back up a soft leg aid (if it doesn’t work) with an immediate big thump with the boots and it helps with the stiff boots I find. It’s the Laura Graves thing she says at the clinics here - to make sure you’re never nagging (so not over-using the leg and being really deliberate with what level of responsiveness/energy you want to maintain). You give a light 1/10 aid first, and if that doesn’t work immediately dial-it up to 10/10. Then back down again to re-apply with the 1/10. Don’t incrementally increase the pressure as this just reinforces dullness. Link below to her explaining this a bit (among other things).
You can definitely do this without a whip - the big kick and clucking works I think.
Good luck
