#augmentative and alternative communication

[turtley-ausome]

Got my AAC device in the mail yesterday same week me speech therapist requested it! I am so so happy and exited about it!

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

for school asked pick write some disorders that deal w speech language (& others). so sat down wrote bunch of ...something, base on own interest focus. idk if actually fit assignment criteria at all but think it good so post it here. people who see my assignment shouldn't... also know me here but if u do no you don't.

for formal stuff n school academics do go through painstaking process of fix obvious language disorder stuff lol. am not that confident in my stuffs unfortunately. shout out to allllll resources n tools that help me lol but can still prob see traces of those stuff here n there

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[...] the condition I focus the most on is autism spectrum disorder. It tends to be the one disorder in the I/DD (intellectual &/ developmental disability, defined in unquoted part) category people talk about the most, but despite that, what most of them seem to know about autism is either wrong or incomplete. Autistic people and autistic lives are not tragedies, and people who believe that are wrong. On the other hand, there are an unignorable number of autistic people in the neurodiversity movement—primarily those who are low support needs, level 1, and late diagnosed—who do believe that autism is merely a difference and not a disorder or disability, similar to what the ASHA website says. Of course, autistic people are allowed to view their own selves through whatever lens they like (granted they are actually autistic). However, what the website misses is that, once the idea of autism not being a disorder or disability but solely a difference is generalized to all autistic people, that is also, simply, wrong, even if an autistic person said it. It is not a viewpoint that represents the whole neurodiversity movement, either. I am friends with and in community with a lot of high support needs autistics. Some of us are nonverbal/nonspeaking, many of us have stereotypical symptoms, and all of us have significant struggles and needs to warrant 24/7 support. They have love and joy, they think, they have things to say, they are dynamic. Some of them have abilities people do not assume they are competent enough to have (not even savantism, but as simple as being able to communicate via writing and be on social media), but even those who do not are worthy, too. They are life worthy of life, too. Lateral ableism in the autism community is a very real issue. Unfortunately, the most marginalized autistic people often have trouble getting their voice heard (because of lack of ability, lack of support to foster that ability, or not able to communicate in palatable and easily understood ways about palatable and easily understood things), while some of the verbally privileged autistic people who have the ability and are able to communicate in palatable and most comfortably understood ways use that to advocate for themselves at the expense of everyone else.

A condition with growing awareness is childhood apraxia of speech, or verbal dyspraxia. I know a handful of nonspeaking autistics with it. To them, their apraxia is severe enough where they cannot speak through their mouth, or they can but it is nowhere near functional, or their mouth says things they do not mean to say. Some of them call themselves nonspeaking, while others call themselves unreliably speaking, and others have various different ways of self identity. Many of them describe it as having an “unruly body,” or a “mind-body disconnect,” for their struggles does not end with their speech, but rather their whole body. Usually, they can understand just fine, but because they have trouble showing that in conventional ways, they are assumed to be intellectually disabled and never given the communication tools that actually work with their body. 

However, some firm advocates for apraxic people forget that while many apraxic nonspeaking people are denied communication rights and education rights because of an incorrectly assumed intellectual disability, those who are nonverbal not simply because of motor speech reasons, but also/instead language or intellectual/cognitive reasons exist, too. It is wrong to not provide apraxic nonspeaking people the tools to communicate (from the assumed intellectual disability), but it is also wrong to deny people with intellectual disability the communication and educational tools, too. I know nonverbal and nonspeaking people with intellectual disability, cognitive disabilities, and comorbid expressive and receptive disorders. There will always be people who struggle to understand language and need it simplified, and people who have trouble expressing themselves, even people who may never fluidly and functionally communicate with any form of language, even with all the tools in the world. They exist, they deserve the support, and that needs to be recognized, too. 

Despite differences and disagreements, they are often united by a common experience: of having the prospects of speaking with their mouth valued over other forms of communication, and of being denied support to foster those forms of communication. Speaking via their mouth is placed at the top of the communication hierarchy by our society and seen as the most valuable, professional, competent, and normal. It is a deeply ingrained sentiment (speechism) many speech language pathologists, caregivers of people with I/DD, and even people with I/DD themselves hold. Because of it, many people rather put all hopes on drilling mouth speech, to the frustration of the person with I/DD (forgetting that if you seal the mouth of a nondisabled verbal person without underlying emotional or behavioral difficulties, after a while they will start having more-than-usual “behavioral episodes” from not being able to make themselves heard, too), often with limited progress, rather than consider the many other paths that lead to “Rome” (communication). So many of my nonverbal/nonspeaking and semiverbal friends describe getting access to a robust system of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) as life changing, and continued access to it as life saving. While AAC takes many forms and each has strengths and uses, many especially credit their speech generating device (SGD; including iPads), whether text-based or symbol-based. It often has greater customization abilities, more words without the bulk, and having a generated voice allows the user to command more space in the room. Others also swear by low-tech AACs due to different needs, while many also switch between the two depending on the context. However, not all nonverbal/nonspeaking people and people with CCN have access to a robust AAC of any form, for people around them who is able to rely on their mouth speech worrying about how AAC will negatively interacts with other areas of development, such as common misconceptions like there being prerequisites needed for AAC introduction (especially “complicated” SGDs), or that AAC will hinder speech and language development (it does not). In addition, AAC has benefits outside of I/DD contexts. I know at least two people with ventilators and tracheostomies who became nonverbal/nonspeaking from it and use AAC because they cannot use speech valves (also, the most common type of speech valve, the Passy Muir valve, is invented by ventilator and tracheostomy user, David Muir). 

(I also think there is nuance and context to labeling gestures and facial expressions as no-tech AAC. An AAC user intentionally using those as a shorthand for their AAC system may be using those as no-tech AAC. I do not deny the usefulness of normalizing and educating AAC by listing examples of average person in an average context shrugging in a conversation, pulling up a picture as you talk to someone about your recent vacation, texting your friends far away, and other instances where non-speech communication is already normalized in mainstream society. However, in a more nuanced and advanced “AAC 201” conversation, those examples are, for better or worse, normalized, mainstream, and non-transgressive methods of communication. They do not hold the same stigma or (positive/neutral/negative) experience that AAC users live with.)

[dreamdropsystem]

it's okay to use AACs (aka AAC tools) - Shane/Leaf/Angel

[multiplicity-positivity]

Here’s some positivity for systems who use AAC!

Augmentative and alternative communication is often a necessary way for many neurodivergent or disabled folks to interact with others and share their ideas with the world. AAC is absolutely a valid form of communication, and those who use it should be welcomed and encouraged in our spaces. This post goes out to all the systems and headmates out there who are AAC users!

☎️ Shoutout to nonverbal/nonspeaking systems whose whole collective has been using AAC for their whole lives!

📝 Shoutout to systems who use AAC for some reason other than autism!

🗣️ Shoutout to systems with some members who are more reliant on AAC than others!

💻 Shoutout to systems who sometimes feel frustrated or limited by the AAC they use to communicate!

☎️ Shoutout to systems who take a long time to communicate with AAC and who need others around them to be patient while they put together their thoughts!

📝 Shoutout to systems who use unorthodox or uncommon methods of AAC!

🗣️ Shoutout to systems who cannot afford specialized AAC tools, and have to make do with free apps, homemade communication cards, or other cheap AAC tools!

💻 Shoutout to AAC using systems who are tired of being ignored, talked over, and infantilized in their spaces!

☎️ Shoutout to systems who educate others on AAC and advocate for the rights of other AAC users!

📝 Shoutout to systems who use AAC after regression, an accident, a degenerative disease, or some other condition that has made regular communication difficult or impossible for them!

🗣️ Shoutout to AAC users who swear, who discuss adult themes, or who do not want their methods of communication to be censored or sanitized by others or by their communication tools themselves!

💻 Shoutout to systems who love their AAC and love the freedom of communication that their AAC provides!

To all systems who are AAC users, we love you and want to support you however we can! Regardless of why your system uses AAC, you belong in the plural community just the way you are. Your voice matters, and you deserve to be heard, acknowledged, and uplifted in our spaces. The plural community is made better and stronger by your presence, and it simply would not be the same without you here!

We hope that you can gain access to communication tools that help you feel empowered and comfortable sharing your thoughts. We hope you can surround yourselves with people who are patient, kind, and accepting of your AAC. We hope that your AAC grants your whole system the freedom to express yourselves in the ways that feel right for you! We care about you, and we are rooting for you in all that you do. Thank you so much for reading, and have a lovely day!

[autisticslp]

If you or someone you know is an AAC user whose communication method was lost, damaged, or otherwise impacted by the hurricane, please check out USSAAC’s Disaster Relief Committee. They can help replace high and low tech AAC and accessories, including switches and batteries.

They are also seeking donations, which is a great way to both help with the current disaster and celebrate AAC awareness month!

[frameacloud]

Rogan's Aphasia, by LB Lee

Content: Rated PG. Swear words, brief mention of surviving child abuse.

Medium: Book. An illustrated nonfiction zine.

About a personal experience of one plural system member losing the ability to talk due to brain damage (called Broca's aphasia), and very useful advice about how to deal with it! Some methods explored here are texting with emoji, carrying pocket-size cards with common messages, pointing at symbols on communication boards, and making your own cards so they reflect your own style and needs. Recommended reading.

To feature this zine created by LB Lee, I include it in my itch.io collections of plurality and zines. I'm doing this series of Tumblr posts reviewing and featuring other people's creations with links to where you can see them on itch.io to celebrate and draw attention to the cool stuff that folks make.

[thecoffeecrew404]

Reblog this post with information on ANY AAC resources <3

Apps, boards, cards, etc

[talkethtothehandeth]

I can’t wait for my communication cards to get here 😭

Losing my voice is so distressing and I’m blessed my caregiver is patient with me and works to understand me, but I need another form of communication to give me back my sense of self in those moments that isn’t writing

Yes, I can sign basic words and some sentences, I am barely conversational in ASL because before I got sicker, I was hard of hearing, but having something tangible other than writing is something I want and need to feel more like myself.

[dreamdropdollops]

ultimate goal:

- use AAC tools to communicate when having verbal loss (aka 84% of the time)

mini goals:

- master Proloquo2Go

- stop forcing speech

- find perfect setting for TTS on phone and tablet

- get mini speaker for louder environments

- have a notes section for when you have to type

- get a small notepad ton use when you have to write

- get more + make more communication cards

- make cards for your autism/verbal loss

- tell everyone we communicate with regularly that we aren't gonna force speech anymore, and that we should be given time to communicate non verbally (no option to say)

- tell everyone to text instead of call

- learn to type faster + type without grammer mistakes

- use Proloquo2Go often and in front of others, not just TTS

- make Proloquo2Go easier to use and put butttons everywhere so no need to look frantically for words

- make AAC boards of things we communicate with like "yippie, same, valid" and other things exaplaing things like pronouns, gender, alter names, why we use AAC tools and what AAC are, things we will usually be worder and food places

- use AAC tools on video calls

- accept we are a semispeaking system

- accept its okay for US to use AAC tools

- accept all of our stims our valid, even self injurious and vocal stims, loud or quiet

- get a button/pun to but on sunfloweryard that is AAC user + semispeaking

[turtley-ausome]

Finaly got screwdriver and help and got the new pink frame case on my Accent AAC device yay its so prety!

[the-theater-collective]

Saw nobody do this so, HELL NAW emoji/AAC emote, first time doing one Feel free to use, just like the post and credit me if using it in a public context (for example, a Discord server), credit is not necessary if it's for personal use, just don't pass it off as yours

[awetistix]

I wish I did not have to show my screen to people, but so many places are loud, too loud to hear me ( my talker ). I want a speaker so bad, but can not afford it right now. I am more okay with showing my screen than I was, but I still want the " give me choices. " I want to be able to choose to share or not share my screen. with too many eyes on my screen, I feel anxious. everything is there to see. I deserve to talk too, with what I am thinking private until I am ready.

( this is about augmentative and alternative communication )

[questionmarksys]

If you've been told "use your words" when you are using a form of communication that isn't verbal, you may be entitled to some fuckin financial compensation /j

[the-habitat-ring]

I’m out weeding and I see that my plants are learning to communicate with AAC!

Yes, Nasturtium, you are alive! Good job! 😆

[germplush]

we just started using Proloquo! we have a subscription $10 a month. we are working on it, getting use to nagivating it and adding folders and buttons of things we say and we're really liking it. it's a way we are planning to mainly communicate (+ TTS) but we also want low tech / no tdch AACs like communication cards and laminated speech boards. we are doing our best. the system pretty much everyone experiences verbal loss, and we have nonspeaking and semispeaking alters. most of the system prefers nonverbal communication and that's how we will communicate. just gotta get use to new app and work on using them more even when scared. we're use to focring verbalness or just not saying anything. we are doing our best. also Nibble is nonverbal