#spasmodics

[crabussy]

hitting them with the GET FUCKED 1000 blast

[pxppet]

Mutism/Nonspeaking Awareness Flag

I, like many others, suffer from mutism due to a physical disability. Every flag I've seen for the nonspeaking and nonverbal community is based in autism and related issues, without representation for those of us who are nonspeaking for reasons such as being a cancer survivor, schizophrenia, muscle tension dysphonia, spasmodic dysphonia, aphrasia, brain damage, etc. and related conditions. There are a large variety of conditions that I rarely see representation for, and this flag is for us.

The white stripes represents hope for a more accepting future for nonspeaking and mute people.

The purple stripes represents entirely nonspeaking people.

The blue stripes represents AAC and sign language users.

The green stripes represents people with fluctuating levels of verbality.

The yellow stripe represents community and the way we have each other's backs in this struggle.

The symbol is a vague representation of the lack of a voice. I couldn't decide which one looked better so feel free to use either.

[astridellejo]

Kitab - Assistive Technology

Transcript Below:

1. [pointing to my throat and left ear] Astrid: I can't use my voice anymore due to abductor spasmodic dysphonia. Astrid: Plus I have audio processing issues and actual hearing loss.

2. [signing: COMMUNICATE] Astrid: So I could use some assistive technology to help me communicate.

3. [wearing AirPods in a crowd - On the right, a maxed out volume in the red goes down to four pips of green on the right.] Astrid: The new Apple AirPods Pro 2 are apparently hearing aid quality. Astrid: I could use the noise cancelling to help me hear in crowded environments.

4. [holding an iPad Mini in my left hand and an Apple Pencil in my right hand] Astrid: The iPad Mini is my favorite iPad size. Astrid: And the new one is compatible with the Apple Pencil Pro.

5. [I'm writing on the iPad Mini while surrounded by paper notes] Astrid: Since I can't speak now, I could use this to write notes. Astrid: It saves paper and keeps my communication ephemeral, like speaking. Notes: Yeah, my voice is broken. - If you speak clearly. - I'd … a latte please. - Where is the bathroom? - I'm still learning ASL.

6. [enjoying music, represented by a staff of assorted notes floating up and away] Astrid: Of course, I can also use this for digital art and listen to music. Astrid: Bonus!

7. [Sarita is in a white dress and has her arms crossed. Astrid signs: YES] Sarita: You're just trying to justify dropping $1000 on fancy toys. Astrid: Well, I mean, yeah.

8. [Sarita still has her arms crossed. Astrid signs: DRAW] Sarita: Do you even have $1000? Astrid: Of course not! I draw comics and post them on the internet. How would I have money?!

[grinnersmiler]

Cons of trying to participate in a fandom when the majority of the people in there are I swear to god, grown ass babys as someone trying to provide a reference point for thing that happens in the media™

- who would write such a horrible thing.... Thats so horrible, honestly if you think like this block me, because thats bad... Im only here to have fun okay... What do you mean abuse is common in situations like this... When i asked everyone for headcannons i didn't mean ones that would make me personally feel bad ... Fiction ≠ reality leave my coffee shop au ALONE.

[tsunagite]

Thinking about Phigros

[cheezyharu]

Sillies, the both of them whom I finished earlier today, they are long time best friends :3

[arinrowan]

look, no one chooses what disabilities they get and I know this could be so much worse, but if do have a condition where most people are going to go "oh, you mean like Scott Adams/RFK Jr.?", I'm going to get SO MUCH psychic damage

[firstfelltofawn]

someone i barely know just reached out to tell me an article they read about rfk's voice disorder made them think of me and that they know of a narcolepsy medication that might help. i told them i didn't want to go through the pain of getting my throat scoped a second time so i don't know what specific form of dysphonia i have. now i'm going to crawl under the bed and die.

[sunnycanwrite]

Ik you said your asks are open to answer questions about your hcs, but I feel the need to share my disability hcs bc I never get to do that 👍👍👍

Dick has spasmodic torticollis since he was a child due to injuries he sustained while learning trapeze acts. Stretches and sensory tricks help him the best. He also gets hand tremors and headaches due to the torticollis too. He has a bracelet that he can tap thatll send a notification that he needs assistance to his friends&family. Jason is usually the first one to respond nowadays.

Jason also has spasmodic torticollis, but it didn’t happen severely until later in his life. He was able to get his phone and call Dick, who immediately came over with a neck warmer, a support pillow, and a little print out of good stretching Jason can do if it happens again. Jason now has a bracelet too :)

Why I think this? Projection 👍

Projecting into the batfam is my favorite thing! I love your headcanons!

[bossuary]

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[iphisesque]

whatever. at least my hair is back to tugging length

[astridellejo]

What on Earth is Spasmodic Dysphonia?

A comic about how my voice doesn't work anymore.

Transcript below the fold:

Kitab - What on Earth is Spasmodic Dysphonia?

1. Spasmodic dysphonia is a neurological disorder that affects the muscles of the throat around the vocal cords, causing them to … you know … spasm. [wiggling my fingers] It's, like, super rare, and it blows my mind that I somehow won this genetic lottery.

2. Anyway, the more common one is the adductor type, which is what RFK Jr. has. [one hand points to a bear riding a bicycle, the other holds up a Venus symbol] While he's probably the most prominent figure with it, this actually affects women more often than men.

3. Basically, the spasming muscles push the vocal folds together to create a wobbly, gravelly sounding voice. [using my hands to squish together a pink circle representing the vocal cords]

4. The one that I've got is the abductor type where the muscles pull the vocal folds apart to create a wobbly, breathy voice. [now I pull the pink circle apart]

5. I can't really use my voice at all anymore. It takes way too much breath to produce sound. And what sound I can make is barely audible. So I just don't talk now. [I turn a pretend key on my voice box] However, I do have a voice through the magic of comics!

6. Some people use Botox in their throat to recover their voice. [I hold up a can of beets that expired in 1962 with a syringe sticking in the top] From what I've read, it's only a temporary fix.

7. I'm not doing that because there is no way I'm putting that stuff into my body. [I point nervously at my throat] And a needle in the throat? That's a horror movie!

8. I'm okay with the loss of my voice. I've accepted it. It doesn't faze me too much. It can be inconvenient sometimes, but it is what it is. [I wave up my hands] Now I'm learning sign language as an alternative to spoken communication.

9. There's way more info about all this at dysphonia.org. [dry smile directly into the camera] Check it out if you are so inclined. Or don't. You're a busy person and probably still have a functioning voice.

[tsunagite]

Oodlies

[arinrowan]

I want the election to be over for many reasons, but a major one is I need to know if the muteness is situational or permanent.

sometimes I just can't talk. sometimes, it's that the words physically can't come out of my throat. sometimes, it's that my brain won't even let them reach my throat.

Until I saw a specialist in 2020, there was an eight week period of almost complete muteness. No one could tell me what was wrong, which also meant no one could tell me it would improve. Even after I finally saw an ENT doctor, the test results were inconclusive and I needed an additional referral to a speech therapist to determine which vocal cord dysfunction was happening.

Muscle Tension Dysphonia can be treated by speech therapy. This was the vocal cord disorder I was ultimately diagnosed with, which responded to speech therapy on my very first session. Post diagnosis and speech therapy, while I'd still get bouts of mutism, they'd last hours instead of weeks and were generally tied to stress.

Spasmodic Dysphonia is the other common vocal cord disorder. Treatment is inconclusive. Recovery is inconclusive. It's a lifelong condition. And if, once the dust from the election has settled, I still can't talk, there's a significant chance I've developed that in addition to MTD.

I think, during that period in 2020, I already processed a lot of emotions around what it would mean if I couldn't speak again. And over the past four years I've gone mute enough times I know the workarounds. Mostly it's just a thing that happens to me. But if my voice doesn't come back after the election, it stops being situational. It becomes a new normal. It means multiple doctor appointments and a neurologist and speech pathologist and another ENT doctor putting a camera down my throat, all coordinated referrals my insurance will only partially cover to probably be told they can't do shit.

I want to talk to my dad. I want to talk to my nephews at thanksgiving. I don't want to see how my mom can talk over me when I can't talk back.

I want the election to be over so I can tell in just how many ways I'm fucked.

[astridellejo]

Wrestling With the Greased Pig of Speech/Voice Loss Terminology

Okay. So here's my understanding of the terminology:

Selective Mutism (Situational Mutism) This one seems to stem mostly from anxiety (maybe a little autism too). I don't experience that degree of anxiety often, but it has happened on rare occasions. Personally, I hate this term. It implies that not speaking is a conscious choice. I think situational is a more accurate word. "There are some situations in which my anxiety causes me to be unable to speak. This can be short term or long term. But it is by no means a deliberate, conscious decision on my part. It's more like my brain gets hyper-stimulated or something and just forgets how to make mouth noises."

Nonverbal This term appears to be specifically autism related mutism. I'm ADHD, not autistic, so I don't use this term for myself. And not being autistic, I can't really offer more information on the term.

Nonspeaking I guess this is an alternative to nonverbal that is less autism-specific. I guess. I don't actually know for sure. I'm not really sold on it, though, because kind of like "selective" mutism it kind of implies that a person can speak, but for whatever reason, chooses not to. Don't talk if you don't wanna talk. But I suppose people who are physically unable to talk might take umbrage with your conscious decision not to talk. I'm cool with it, though.

Dysphonia/Aphonia One means "messed up voice" and the other means "no voice at all". Aphonia is a neat word. Right up there with anhedonia. (Ahh, Greek!) I use the term spasmodic dysphonia because that's the official diagnosis I got from the ENT doctor. Apparently there's a more recent term laryngeal dystonia that seems to be preferred, but it doesn't seem to be taking root. So for now, I still have abductor spasmodic dysphonia that has rendered me aphonic. Whee!

Mute This word exists. I'm not sure if I like it, though. I don't have a good reason why I don't really vibe with it. Maybe it's because muting is something we can do to our television or computer or Zoom meeting, implying that it's reversible and temporary. Or maybe it's because in my ASL studies I've learned a little bit about deaf history and the connotations the word mute has.

There are other situations that can lead to loss of speech, like throat trauma, muscle tension dysphonia, aphasia, and probably a bunch more that I haven't even learned about yet.

Anyway, I don't know. I'm still sorting through my thoughts on the whole experience of the last seven months slowly losing my ability to speak with a functional voice. It's weird no longer being able to do a thing that I did effortlessly for over 40 years. I'm handling it reasonably well, I think. I do miss being able to sing and hum to my favorite music, though. That right there I would consider a genuine loss that I'm feeling.

[tsunagite]

R-

Rhar'il in Chunithm...

Let’s fucking GOOOOOOOO