#like intellectual disability and language processing

[autisticslp]

Pronoun reversal is when a child uses second and third person pronouns for themself (you, she, he) and first person pronouns for others (calling their mom I or me). It’s common for all kids to confuse pronouns when first learning to talk, but for many autistic kids (as well as kids with other neurodevelopmental disabilities) it can continue until adulthood.

This is due to gestalt language processing. Basically, autistic kids are more likely to learn language in chunks (called gestalts) that are later broken down, rather than as individual words that are later put together (which is analytic language processing). So when a gestalt language processor hears their parent or teacher say, “You’re having fun!” when they’re happy, they’re likely to repeat that phrase the next time they’re happy, saying “You’re having fun!” instead of “I’m having fun.”

Can you explain autistic pronoun reversal to me? Like how exactly does it work?

I have no clue what this means. Is this just someone being transphobic or a genuine question?

[rambles-of-mental-illness]

Neurodiversity

Neurodivergence refers to variations in neurological functioning that diverge from what is considered typical or "neurotypical." While there is no single, universally agreed-upon list, neurodivergent disorders generally include conditions that affect cognition, behavior, perception, or social functioning.

1. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) (controversial as a separate diagnosis)

Asperger’s Syndrome (outdated term, now part of ASD)

2. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD (Predominantly Inattentive Type)

ADHD (Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type)

ADHD (Combined Type)

3. Learning Disabilities & Processing Disorders

Dyslexia (difficulty with reading and language processing)

Dyscalculia (difficulty with math and numerical processing)

Dysgraphia (difficulty with writing and fine motor skills)

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)

Visual Processing Disorder (VPD)

Nonverbal Learning Disability (NVLD)

4. Intellectual Disabilities

Global Developmental Delay

Down Syndrome

Fragile X Syndrome

Williams Syndrome

Prader-Willi Syndrome

5. Communication Disorders

Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder

Speech Sound Disorder

Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Selective Mutism

6. Tic Disorders

Tourette Syndrome

Chronic Motor or Vocal Tic Disorder

Provisional Tic Disorder

7. Mental Health Conditions Often Considered Neurodivergent

Schizophrenia Spectrum & Other Psychotic Disorders

Schizophrenia

Schizoaffective Disorder

Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Delusional Disorder

Mood Disorders with Neurological Features

Bipolar Disorder

Major Depressive Disorder (long-term cases cause atrophy in brain regions like the hippocampus)

Dysthymia (Persistent Depressive Disorder)

Anxiety & Related Conditions

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) (sometimes considered)

Panic Disorder (sometimes considered)

Trauma-Related Disorders (sometimes included)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (when it significantly alters cognition and sensory processing)

Complex PTSD (CPTSD)

Dissociative Disorders

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder

Personality Disorders (Not all PDs)

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)

Schizotypal Personality Disorder (StPD)

8. Sensory Processing Differences

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) (not formally recognized in DSM-5 but widely acknowledged in neurodivergent communities)

9. Epilepsy & Neurological Conditions (sometimes considered)

Epilepsy

Migraines with Aura

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)

10. Other Conditions Sometimes Considered Neurodivergent

Hyperlexia (advanced reading ability with comprehension difficulties)

Synesthesia (cross-wiring of sensory experiences)

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) (due to high comorbidity with neurodivergence)

Autoimmune Encephalitis (when it affects cognitive function)

Neurodivergence is a broad and evolving concept, with some conditions more widely accepted as neurodivergent than others. The core idea is that neurodivergent individuals experience the world in ways that differ from neurotypical standards, often due to innate neurological differences.

[alexanderwales]

One of the things they went over when I took linguistics was the "euphemism treadmill", the tendency of initially-clinical or neutral words to undergo pejoration to the point that someone felt the need to replace the pejorated word with one that was clinical or neutral. And then of course the process of pejoration would start again.

The best example of this were words related to what we now call intellectual disability. In the past, "idiot", "simpleton", "moron", "feeble-minded", and "imbecile" were all relatively clinical terms. (This is one of those things that's often repeated, but if you go looking at newspapers from the 1920s, you do kind of wonder whether the negative connotations were just completely acceptable then, especially when they're talking about the successes of sterilizing the feeble-minded.)

The reason that pejoration happens is that while the word changes, the societal attitude toward the underlying thing most often does not, and so if they change the word and declare that this new word is totally neutral, then society's negative view is just going to keep making those words take on bad connotations. This will happen even with the most anodyne descriptions, like "mentally handicapped", which Google will inform you with a little warning is offensive and dated.

The linguistics class I took in the early 2000s spent a little time on the word "retarded", which by then was well on its way to complete pejoration (federal law was changed in 2010, from "mental retardation" to "intellectual disability"), but had not reached the point when it was "the r-slur". If I recall correctly, this was when "mentally handicapped" was still relatively in vogue, and sitting in that classroom I had thought that "retard" was going to go the way of "moron", a word that was used exclusively in a disparaging way. I thought it would be about as acceptable as calling someone an imbecile, I guess, which is impolite but which doesn't rise to the level of "slur".

But no, I was wrong. The euphemism treadmill will probably continue because we have not done anything about the underlying condition (that people with intellectual disabilities are less valued and looked down on), but "retard" has now become a slur, even if every other fucking word for low intelligence is still in common use as a disparagement.

It's wild how much you can see people dancing around this. I said above that Google gives an "offensive and outdated" tag to the term "mentally handicapped", but they also give that to "retarded". However, if you go to "imbecile" they don't give that tag. To save you the trouble of looking it up:

noun: imbecile; plural noun: imbeciles

a stupid person.

archaic a person of low intelligence.

Ah, lovely. So it's okay, because it just means "a stupid person", it used to mean "a person of low intelligence", but it doesn't mean that any more, so ... not offensive, I guess?

Except hold on, what does "stupid" mean again?

adjective: stupid; comparative adjective: stupider; superlative adjective: stupidest

having or showing a great lack of intelligence or common sense.

Oh, okay, I see. So in the archaic sense "imbecile" meant a person of low intelligence, but now it means a person who has a lack of intelligence. Totally different, very understandable. Nevermind that "imbecile" was pejorated in the same way that "retard" was, and that using a negative word to refer to someone who is lacking intelligence is basically the same thing.

I think if you want to fight against the pejorative use of the word "retard", you should probably be fighting against a lot more words, and you should definitely be fighting against the societal view that people with lower intelligence are lesser. You can fight the language issue all you want, but it's just going to lead to more cycles of pejoration. There's no way that switching over to saying "person with a learning disability" (as it seems the UK bureaucrats now favor) is going to somehow end it.

Personally, I'm the kind of person who just goes with the flow. I think people with intellectual disabilities are just as much people as anyone else, deserving of care and compassion, but I also value intelligence at least as much as my surrounding society does, and while I do make attempts to temper my language, saying that an idea is stupid rather than casting contempt on a person who is stupid, that's a mighty fine line to tow, and ... people just don't care. If I call a politician a moron, no one will bat an eye. I will refrain from saying the r-word, because people get mad at you when you do that. I think if I got hit in the head tomorrow and became intellectually disabled, I would be more or less happy with this.

I don't have a strong principled stance, more a stance of "come on, what are we doing here". Euphemism treadmill goes brrrr, language gonna language, I just wish the whole linguistic and social process didn't feel like some out of control machine that wasn't actually doing anything for anyone, and that people would pay more attention to the underlying mechanisms for how/why pejoration actually works. Changing the word is not going to usher in an era of understanding and equality, we've proven that, haven't we?

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

on tumblr lot more people know about it which great! that improve life of all AAC users. but pretty much with anything disability/developmental disability space on social media (which need certain amount of cognitive/intellectual & language abilities be on even if have support), good majority you see be teen & adult people who already literate learn language via speech n write *first* n then *independently* learn AAC base on it *later*.

especially symbol based AAC, but all AAC, is new system n hard n take long time learn even when you literate & not moderately severely cognitively disabled. but also, “literate teen/adult independent learn AAC” not at all full face of AAC user community.

as in like. experience of theirs. not universal. independently motivated & able to look up different AAC options different AAC apps, compare n contrast. download app n immediately know how to use, or able figure out by self. first time use app n may be clunky n slow, but make sentence on first try. need learn AAC, but most of that learning is for where words are (if button based), how exist as AAC user in public with confidence, etc. those all valid but not true for everyone who need AAC, especially not developmentally disabled children (& some adults) with complex communication needs.

most developmentally disabled children (n some adults) w complex communication needs who need AAC, can’t just hand them tablet with symbol based AAC app or text to speech AAC app n then wait for magic. many of them developmentally delayed in way, not taught in way that fit them (e.g. gestalt language processors), n their language abilities behind peers, so they can’t read, can’t spell, can’t grammar, etc.

some of them need learn where word is not by read word, sometimes not even by understand symbol, instead is by other people press button n hear sound n associate that with meaning n location on AAC n symbol associate with it. in other words, they learning language alongside AAC.

for some their learn process look like, learn how use AAC say one word. n then much later, try make two word message, “want food” “go school.” “two word message” incredibly common goal for many these developmentally disabled children, teens, n even adults, that is something rare n truly extraordinary for that person that need be celebrated.

for others it look like learn by phrase (gestalt), then slowly break it down into smaller phrase n chunks n finally single words.

many of them babble (click random/seemingly random buttons on high tech device, stim with it, etc). but ultimately, won’t be able learn all by self. need be taught, see you accidentally spill water n crying, maybe you “feel” “sad”, n when that happen you “need” “help” from adult. need learn AAC by adults around them constantly model with it, constantly use it in conversation, show them how use. because they learning language along side it.

but also some of them don’t know what this thing in front of them (AAC… device, low tech boards or picture cards, etc) is. don’t know what communication is or you should do that. don’t know people exist who you should communicate to & with. heard many parents n SLP say they try model all time, try all kind of stuff, but child just not seem interested in it, don’t look at it, don’t touch it, don’t use it.

people who use AAC, not all them struggle with only speech. some them struggle with language, with intellectual/cognitive. some of them very developmentally delayed.

n some people, too disabled learn or use AAC. yeah, they exist.

for people who cannot use / cannot only use speech to be understood, AAC can be life changing. but is so much more complex thing. AAC still not as widely used n accepted n properly taught n supported as should, some parents n professionals n schools still many pushback n refuse. but sometimes answer to “have you tried AAC for them” is “yes, but they need long time n lots help to learn n we not very far yet even though spent long time on it” or “yes, but they simply not show interest even after constant model” or “god, wish can, but insurance only cover if show some amount of communication competence n ability use AAC, while only give 1 month trial, which simply not enough time” (wide spread thing that happen) or “yes. many types. it not work.”

for many AAC users & AAC user-to-be, it not as simple as “be handed AAC n check back in while they figure out by self”

[drdemonprince]

I’m an Autistic trans woman and I appreciate all the content you’re putting out on here. I find your Substack hard to follow. I usually have to read and reread each piece over and over and sometimes even then I don’t think I fully understand what you’re saying. I don’t think I’m stupid I just find that level writing and length hard to follow. I like your stuff on here and your instagram videos because it’s easier to follow and understand. Would you ever consider writing shorter pieces that are easier to understand for those of us who struggle with it? I don’t know if that’s offensive to ask. If it is I’m sorry I don’t mean it to be.

it's the opposite of offensive. my work's lack of accessibility is one of its biggest flaws. I am talking with a team in Aotearoa about editing some of my sex writing into language accessible for intellectually disabled people, hopefully I will learn a bit about writing more succinctly and clearly for everyone in the process. It represents a bit of a competing access need situation; I have trouble taking the perspective of another person and knowing what will make sense to them and explaining things patiently rather than speeding ahead and connecting everything I see as connected and ranting.

[birdofmay]

What's the difference between nonverbal and nonspeaking?

I have posts about nonverbal autism, but none about the single topic "What's the difference between nonverbal and nonspeaking?" So this will be a handy linked blog entry for my pinned post.

All summed up: There is no real difference, it's a matter of preference. Please ask us what term we prefer and respect that choice. It's a sensitive topic because there has been a lot of discourse around it ☝🏼

Alright. First things first: Nonverbal is a medical term not exclusively for autism. In the medical field, "nonverbal" simply means that your speech is extremely impaired or fully absent. Yes, there are many meanings of "nonverbal", but this is what doctors mean. Did you know that there's nonverbal cerebral palsy too? (External link)

But let's focus on autism. Autistics who can't speak are said to have "nonverbal autism".

Discourse #1 - the mind is intact

There are many reasons why some autistics never learn to speak. One reason can be non-acquired apraxia (i.e. not due to a stroke, TBI, Alzheimer's, etc.), which leads to limited motor control. If it affects the mouth and throat only, individuals "know what they want to say", but their mouth doesn't cooperate. They either struggle to get words out clearly/don't get anything out at all, or their mouth seems to have "a mind of its own" - they say things they didn't want to say. If apraxia affects the whole body, this goes for actions too. Either they can't make their body do what they want to do (e.g. they want to point at a ball but their arm won't move) or their body does things they didn't want to do (e.g. they want to point at the ball but instead their finger points at the floor).

As you can imagine, this situation is really unfortunate when a therapist wants to test your intelligence. You can't get words out, so they ask you to show them what a triangle is. You know what a triangle is, but your body does its own thing. You point at the circle instead of the triangle, and your therapist concludes that you don't understand simple instructions. They assume intellectual disability. You're misunderstood all your life and everyone thinks that you can't learn to communicate, that you don't understand language. You're frustrated.

Luckily, at some point some people realised that these autistics CAN learn to communicate and in fact are very capable and understand language just fine. That was when apraxic autistics talked about this misunderstanding online. They talked about how they were mistreated and underestimated, that people should always "presume competence". They coined a new term for themselves: "Nonspeaking". In their opinion, "nonverbal" doesn't describe their experience and makes it sound like they can't learn to read or write. "My mind is intact, I can make intelligent choices about my life!" (External link)

Sounds good? Well, it may be surprising to know that most of us on Tumblr who can't speak either don't mind being called "nonverbal" or actively prefer nonverbal over nonspeaking. How can that be?

Discourse #2 - the mind isn't always intact

There are other reasons why some autistics never learn how to speak. Most of the time, in contrast to "nonspeaking self-advocates", we do struggle to understand language and our mind is not "intact". We have language disorders, brain damage, slow processing speed, often ID. The latter is why most of us aren't on any social media. My ability to communicate isn't average for us, it's an exception!

When the "say nonspeaking" wave reached Tumblr, I think at first most of us who are on social media liked that idea. We spread awareness about how terminology is a preference thing, that "nonspeaking" is about overcoming years of mistreatment and about empowerment. That some of us think that "nonverbal" sounds like we can't communicate and can't understand language, when that's not true. But, as I said, most autistics who never learned how to speak aren't online and therefore can't participate in this discourse. "Nonspeaking self-advocates", on the other hand, are on social media and love to participate. But they are a minority among those who can't speak.

The result? At some point it got a little ableist. The mindset "We are intelligent and understand language" turned into "You guys with ID and language disorders make us look bad" and THAT turned into speaking over and ignoring us. Or harassing even. "You have to call yourself nonspeaking, otherwise you're a bad person!" and so on. We responded "No, you say you're intelligent and your mind is intact. Good for you, but ours isn't. You erase our existence and we don't relate to your experience. We don't identify with your word." It was worse on other platforms, at some point the term "nonspeaking supremacist" was coined similar to "aspie supremacist".

Discourse #3 - free interpretation of a term that's NOT loosely defined??!

And last year, a really strange thing happened: Speaking autistics somehow mixed up the "To me personally, nonverbal sounds like I can't learn to communicate and don't understand language at all" and incorrectly informed others "So there's a difference between nonverbal and nonspeaking. Nonspeaking means that you can't speak and nonverbal means that you also can't communicate in other ways".

They took it as a fact and informed us that we "by definition" actually are nonspeaking because we can communicate via text. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I repeat: Most of us who can't speak aren't on social media. So this misinformation again spread everywhere because we weren't enough, we weren't loud enough. We can't ever be loud enough because, exactly: Most of us aren't on social media.

Now we weren't harassed by fellow nonverbal/nonspeaking autistics, nope, NOW suddenly speaking autistics from ALL over the world tried to inform us that we shouldn't call ourselves nonverbal - NOT aware that by now "nonspeaking" got a slightly ableist connotation in the process 😵

Here's an example of how wild things were last year...

And that's not enough: Suddenly everyone assumed that autistics who can't speak due to apraxia MUST call themselves nonspeaking because that's where the movement started. No, even apraxic autistics sometimes prefer "nonverbal", and they have every right to do so!

As things are now...

So, that's why most of us on Tumblr prefer nonverbal. Oh, and by the way:

Whenever someone isn't aware of this and makes a "To me, nonverbal means..." post, all I think is "Oh, not again, please not again", and I see this war flashback meme in my mind's eye 😅

Every "To me, nonverbal means..." post that ends with "And that's why I prefer nonspeaking" has the potential to get loud and start this harassment and misinformation all over.

Every new post that tries to define nonverbal and nonspeaking could start this all over again.

Because nonspeaking supremacists are very very loud. And speaking autistics are usually very very uninformed about us. And most nonverbal/nonspeaking autistics aren't on any social media.

[cripplecharacters]

Hello. I am writing about a main character who has Down syndrome (12 years old). How does a child like her would react to mother death and moving to an old house? I want to be respectful while writing her.

Hi asker,

So there are a couple different things to think about.

For one, death of a loved one is hard for everyone, and the death of a parent is very difficult for pretty much all children. Change is hard, and this is a very permanent change that can be very traumatic because a person a kid expects to be with for way more time is now gone. The closer the child was to her mother, the harder this is going to be for her.

On change being hard, ID can make it harder for her to adapt to change. "Harder" does not mean "impossible." "Harder" means maybe they have to make a plan to help her transition to her new living space, maybe it needs to be explained to her more often, things like that. Maybe she needs support from lots of visuals, maybe she's asking questions a lot of the time, maybe she has trouble with doing things because of the stress. And this is from just the change of moving – all of this will likely be compounded with the stress of not having her mother. For this, people can try to help her by trying to provide as much of a sense of normalcy and trying to make sure she can have some sort of... it doesn't have to be a routine per se, just trying to make sure that some things don't change.

Abstract concepts are sometimes hard for kids, although less so by age 12 than for younger children. Abstract concepts can also be more difficult for people with intellectual disability (as is likely the case for your character with Down Syndrome). So, how is the death explained to her?

Best practice to explain death to children, including and especially kids with I/DD, is to use concrete and simple language. Euphemisms don't help much, especially for children, because euphemisms have context behind them that a child doesn't have. Euphemisms can also be misunderstood and unclear.

So, if she actually understands what's going on because people are explaining things to her in a way she can understand, ultimately this is going to be much better for her than if she doesn't understand that her mother isn't coming back because people keep being vague and saying things like "she's in a better place" and she keeps hoping to join her mom in this "better" place. Or it might take some time for her to understand the situation, and she might experience delayed grief.

Who is she moving with? Who is going to take care of her — she's a kid, she can't do it all by herself. Does she know them already? Is she just meeting them? If she's never met them before, this will probably be even more stressful to her — basically every single thing in her life is changing. That's huge. That's stressful and can be hard for her to understand why everything is different.

Overall, at the end of the day she's just a person, a child specifically, being put in an incredibly difficult situation. She has emotions like anyone else — there is a misconception that people with Down Syndrome are always happy, and that's just not true. They have

She's in a situation where adults with zero disabilities would probably have a super rough time as well. Add on to that being a kid, and add on to that being intellectually disabled, and it's probably going to be a really stressful situation. So, think about how your character reacts when she's stressed out, and factor in her disability.

Here's some links to grief and I/DD and grief and children. I have read through them, though not all of them at length. They do have information that you can use, whether on how she'd react or how others around her could react, but either way use your own judgement.

Helping People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Process Grief by the Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities (PDF file)

Responding to Grief Reactions of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities by the Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities (PDF File)

Bereavement In The Lives Of People With Intellectual Disabilities by the University of Hertfordshire's website on Intellectual Disability and Health

Managing Grief Better: People with Intellectual Disabilities by the University of Hertfordshire's website on Intellectual Disability and Health

Helping People With Intellectual Disabilities Cope With Loss by the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (PDF File)

Hope this helps,

mod sparrow

[corinescorner]

Different types of ableism.

Physical Ableism: Discrimination against people with physical disabilities or impairments.

Lack of wheelchair accessible places or elevators

Assuming they're incompetent because of their physical disability

Excluding people from activities due to their disability

Mental Health Ableism: Discrimination against people with mental health conditions.

Using terms like "psycho" or "crazy" to demean others

Dismissing emotions by saying "get over it" or "it's not that bad"

Denying accommodations for people with anxiety, depression, or other "common" mental health conditions

Cognitive Ableism: Discrimination against people with cognitive or intellectual disabilities.

Calling them "dumb" or "stupid"

Assuming people with the disability can't contribute to a conversation or understand it

Infantilizing adults with cognitive disabilities

Sensory Ableism: Discrimination against people with sensory disabilities, such as blindness, deafness, or sensitivity to sensory input.

Assuming blind people cannot live independently

Not having captions or sign language interpreters

Judging people for wearing noise-cancelling headphones or gloves

Linguistic Ableism: Discrimination of people with speech disorders, language processing challenges, or alternative communication needs.

Mocking stutters or speech impediments

Not accommodating to people who use an assistive devices (like AAC)

Believing their intelligence is tied to how they speak

Internalized Ableism: When people with disabilities internalize society's negative messages and biases about their own abilities.

Feeling guilt or shame for needing accessiblity accommodations

Believing they're a burden for their disabilities

Avoiding asking for help in fear of being discriminated or judged

Medical Ableism: Discrimination in healthcare settings, often based on assumptions about quality of life or worth.

Doctors not believing in symptoms

Being denied medical treatment due to preceived "low quality of life"

Overlooking disabilities or treatment planning

Systemic Ableism: Discrimination embedded in policies, institutions, or societal practices.

Education systems that fail to accommodate students with learning disabilities

Jobs not hiring due to disabilities regardless of qualifications

Government providing not enough disability support or benefits

Economic Ableism: Discrimination in employment, financial independence, or access to resources.

Lower wages for disabled workers

Unemployment due to inaccessible workplaces

Policies that limit income for disabled individuals to qualify for benefits

[metalheadsagainstfascism]

Hey, love the post you make about obscure disabilities. Could you make/ have you made about dysgraphia?

Sure. This will be my post for disability pride month tomorrow. Which I'm posting now because I don't have the spoons to schedule it for tomorrow.

I hope you don't mind I turn this into a combo one because I have a hard time mentally processing one of these conditions without understanding all three.

(Obligatory I do not have any of these conditions. This is not meant to be a diagnostic tool. Please do your own research. I'm only answering a question that was asked of me and it's really hard for me to explain one of these without explaining all of the similar conditions to differentiate them.)

And I hope that you don't mind my poorer language skills right now I'm recovering from a server sinus headache I've had all day.

Dyslexia vs Dyscalculia vs Dysgraphia (bonus round Dyspraxia)

These issues have like, a 30% comorbidity rate. So if you have one there's a 30% chance you'll have either of the others. People with conditions may be perceived as "slow" but they are not intellectual disabilities (Not that there's nothing wrong with intellectual disabilities. I'm just pointing it out because people will say "you can't have dyslexia. You're so smart.")

But the fact that they're comorbid and often comorbid with autism and adhd causes some misunderstandings around the conditions because people think they have one condition and attribute all of their issues to the one condition with no knowledge that its not just one condition they're expressing.

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is characterized by the limited processing and comprehension of graphic symbols, particularly those regarding language. People with it have poor reading skills, flipping letter sequences and words, and poor handwriting. Although it is a learning disability, it's important to note that dyslexia does not impact a person's intelligence, although they may seem slower due to poor language processing skills. (There's nothing wrong with disabilities that impact intelligence, I just don't want people saying "he can't be dyslexic because he's so smart".)

Many representations of dyslexia often exhibit letters tap dancing across the page, shape shifting, and doing backflips. It's important to note that these are incorrect representations, because it's really hard to give a visual representation of what people with dyslexia experience. However, it's really harmful to express dyslexia in this fashion as it leads to people thinking that they don't have dyslexia when they actually do.

As I understand it, dyslexia is the eyes/ brain being able to flow seamlessly when reading large blocks of text. Ways to combat this is cut out a strip to block off lines when you read them. Use a highlighted strip of paper to highlight lines as you read them.

Fun fact, there's a few fonts that space the letters well enough and differentiate similar letters enough that make it easier to read. Comic Sans font is the most widely accessible accessibility tool for dyslexic people as it's one of the easy to read fonts that on every machine. (These accessibility tools have proven to make everyone read faster, dyslexia or no. But people with dyslexia have found them instrumentalin functioning. )

Another fun fact. Rick Riordan wrote Lightning Thief so that his dyslexic son could have representation in a character that had the same disability as him.

Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia is often called "math dyslexia". People with Dyscalculia have issues with numbers. They have poor math skills, issues interpreting graphs, issues doing basic arithmetic, issues understanding things like place value, issues understanding time especially when it comes to reading an analog clock, and issues seeing patterns. This often causes a high level of anxiety around math. Some reports say these people have issues with directions, remembering locations, and reading maps (though research is inconsistent on that one).

Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is easy to mix up with dyslexia, which is why I needed to write all these out. Where dyslexia is difficulty reading. Dysgraphia is difficulty writing. Symptoms include difficulty writing words, expressing thoughts in written form, and organizing and processing your thoughts. This can cause issues with social communication for obvious reasons.

These people also may have fine motor perception issues, writing in a straight line, spacing their letters correctly, etc. Especially fine motor skills around writing. They may also have issues with grammar, punctuation, and capitalization.

Bonus Round:

Dyspraxia

This one gets mixed with dyslexia two. Dyspraxia is issues with spacial awareness. They often say they can't tell where their limbs are in space. They may have issues with coordination, walking in a straight line, and balance. It's very hard for me to conceptualize, but people that have it may say that they bang their limbs against things due to poor spacial awareness. Which honestly, relatable. I've slammed me calf into a door before. And my shoulder blade. How? Good question.

These people have issues in social situations because their entire focus will be on their coordination, not making a mess, and not making a fool of themselves, etc. Their issues actually get better when they drink because the stress of sucked situations makes it worse and alcohol loosens them up. (I'm not advocating for drinking, but saying that the issues resolving when your drink validates your dyspraxia, not invalidates it.)

I think a lot of people that know of the condition may think people with low depth perception have dyspraxia. A lot of people have told me they think I have dyspraxia because my lack of depth perception negatively impacts my spacial awareness.

-fae

[beatingtheouijaboardallegations]

wish there are less people invested in one single narrative of nonspeaking / nonverbal identity.

it feels like there are many different “traditions” of nonverbal / nonspeaking activists and each small community all says same thing, same origin story same definitions same words same talk points. and I understand this because we are all autistic! we are all echolalic we all echo language and ideas from the community we surround selves with. but find it really hard when echo words becomes ddogma becomes thing you can’t say differently and just assume everyone thinks same thing or else not really in group.

(going to try to use “nonspeaking” for first community and “nonverbal” for second community because that’s what each one of these communities usually prefer. language hard so sorry if don’t do this consistent.)

like if I go to one of I-ASC (international association on spell to communicate) conference or one of their neuro lyrical events online. as a nonspeaker since birth who does have experience of “learned language without having speech”, of people assume don’t understand anything until finally found way to express self that world understands, and people still doubt am really the one saying this. in some ways relate to these people much much more than people on here who mostly became nonspeaking later in life and have very different upbringing not raised as a person with a DD not grow up without speech. places like the I-ASC and the Spellers community and the syracuse ICI zooms, and even ‘mainstream’ AAC groups like the impAACt voices zooms and local meet ups for nonspeakers feel like family to me, feel like my people who move and talk and live like me.

but. there things in these community that are very black and white. that just can’t relate to. don’t relate to mantra of “speech is motor, language cognitive” for example. or “it’s not about don’t understand or about I don’t want to, it’s about can’t make body do it.”. because my motor issues interact with language processing interact with cognitive stuff not able to neat separate. yes AAC is freedom but I still have to make a lot of compromises to express self with words. have to leave out a lot or (more often) add a lot unnecessary stuff because there things that brain stuck that just can’t say in a way people will understand.

think this is true for lots more nonspeaking people than organizations like these (which were started + run by speaking people and communication & regulation partners and SLPs) say is true. a lot of nonspeaking people in these communities encouraged by speaking people in movement to focus emphasize on “we don’t have intellectual disability we can communicate with words just as good as you can, the motor problems is all that there we don’t have any language problems .” because this is what parents and speaking autistics and well meaning allies/communication partners think is important. they think the way to value us and to say we feel and think and know and should have rights (which we should!) is to distance distance distance far far away from any associate with intellectual disabilities with language disabilities with cognitive disabilities with process differently.

so as long as can be acceptable enough nonspeaker to them they support. which does not feel like support. nonspeaking doesn’t mean non thinking but intellectual disability and language deficit and cognitive disability doesn’t mean non thinking too. and a lot of people in these communities do have more complicated relationships with language but are told by speaking people in these communities to not talk about that only talk about motor stuff or connect everything back to motor stuff. which doesn’t feel like support. feels like flatten make easier make more convenient.

and then when I go on tumblr and see the nonverbal people speaking out here. i started out not on social media mostly in offline AAC and speller advocacy and someone told me there was good community of autistics with good range of support needs on tumblr so I joined. and do find bigger range of autistic and nonverbal nonspeaking experiences able to talk about here. able to talk about mental illness & psychosis & dissociation (which even nonspeaking advocacy communities assume nonspeaking people don’t have these problems or not capable). able to talk about “challenging” behaviors that so so stigmatized. able to talk about language and cognitive stuff. able to talk about gender and queerness without be policed (a lot of professionals and communication support people in nonspeaking advocacy are weird conservative and don’t think can know our genders / sexualities even though always talk about presume competence. it weird.) just saw beautiful post about nonverbal trans experience with gender that I loved. really like that people with intellectual disability getting heard, that we challenge expectation to have “proper” writen language. speech therapy and even learning how to use AAC, learning how to use letterboard etc was always about correct every mistake, about fade prompting, about use grammar properly so other people think competent. and have been able to let go of that on here because the language norms are so so different.

but at the same time I feel like there lot more stuff that not useful. lot of focus on right words to say, a lot of calling out other blogs, a lot of trolls, lot of drama that really doesn’t exist in real life nonspeaking community. like frustrated when go in nonverbal or nonspeaking tag and most posts not about nonverbal people human rights or experience, but about words. specific about people saying go nonverbal, someone trying to say it’s good or someone trying to say it’s bad. every other post about someone ask for right word to say instead of “go nonverbal”, or list of other words to say. or people asking whether or not they’re nonverbal or semiverbal or lose speech. and even within nonverbal community on here lot more talk about words than about justice. or even about lived experience of be nonverbal. people forget that real world outside tumblr tags exist sometimes. that there people living without communication, people being deny communication, people in institutions, people without resources. and that there are ways to change that and to self advocate besides changing what word you call yourself.

not saying words not important. yes it is annoying and bad when people talk abouit going nonverbal and forget that we exist. yes am grateful to people who decide to change what word they call themself to not erase us. but frustrated with how there not really conversation, one opinion just take as The Nonverbal Opinion, just like how it is in offline nonspeaking / speller community.

not seem like these communities are interacting, are compare notes on experience are combine to synthesize into something better. into what community could be. community that leaves no one behind. community that doesn’t claim to speak for everyone, doesn’t claim account for all experiences but still says all nonspeakers exist and all deserve rights. doesn’t tell anyone “don’t talk about your experience with X because it doesn’t fit what we want to tell the world that nonspeaking people are like.” where everything able to be talked about without it ever make less true that all of us need respect and rights more than any one word / idea.

curious if anyone have ideas for how to make this community.

[zebulontheplanet]

Learning is hard for me. It’s like my brain has a limited amount of information it can learn and my memory issues mean that I have to work 10x harder to retain just a little bit of information.

All my life I’ve been pressured to learn a second language. From Spanish, to ASL, I’ve been forced to have some involvement in another language. Now, at 19, I’ve realized that learning a second language isn’t very viable for me after years and years of trying to learn more then the basics.

Most if not all curriculums are made for people not like me. People who have average comprehension skills, people who are able to learn normally, at a faster pace, in a different way.

With an intellectual disability, I learn sooo differently, that’s why I was homeschooled most my life, that’s why I went at my own pace and did things in my grade level, which is very much behind my peers.

It hurts not being able to learn a second language. I want to know more about my roots, I want to go to my grandparents country and speak their language. I want to be able to do those things.

Please don’t go on and say “well everyone can learn a second language” because sometimes it just doesn’t process in people’s brains. My brain works differently.

[zebulontheadult]

I understand this can't be what you mean, but when talking about this, for safeguarding purposes, you should explicitly state that it is not acceptable to ever make any assumptions about consent, regardless of someone's disabilities. Any communication ambiguity or ambiguity around capacity to consent means you have to assume someone is not consenting and cannot consent to sexual contact. We can never assume what someone's inner world is like, that's true- that's why we must always err on the side of not raping people. The way you phrased this reads as the type of rhetoric used to justify crimes such as Anna Stubblefield's assault of a disabled man, which was enabled by her belief in forms of facilitated communication that allow for these crimes to be justified in the abuser's mind. I get that this isn't what you mean, but it needs to be explicitly made clear, because safeguarding means creating an environment where it's clear everyone is in agreement about what is and isn't sexual violence. Your post as you wrote it creates a grey area that a bad actor can read as endorsing the idea that because someone can consent internally despite an outward lack of successful and unambigous communication, people who can't communicate unambiguously enough (in one medium or another) to clearly demonstrate capacity to consent and consent itself, aren't necessarily being assaulted if touched sexually. They are, it's illegal, it's rape. I get that you must know that but we need to be very explicit on this because this is a very vulnerable population and there are people who want to violate them and can easily convince themselves their victims are consenting.

Hey anon. I’m not even sure how to come about this, or even talk about this subject. This subject is so important, and I think it’s also important to realize. I am intellectually disabled. And autistic, and learning disabled, and schizospec, my wording is not going to be 100% but I will say this now. Not once did I say that I agree if someone is not able to explicitly consent, they can consent. If someone is able to explicitly consent in their manner of communicating, then they consent. If they’re not, then they have not consented.

I want people to realize that there is more ways then verbally saying it because verbal words, aren’t the default for many. Sign language users, AAC users, people who write one letter at a time on a piece of fucking paper. These are all ways that people communicate. Verbal. Words. Aren’t. The. Default. That’s what I’m getting at.

It’s also important to realize that a LOT an insanely amount of people with ID are purposefully withheld being taught sex education even if they can comprehend the process of consent. Even verbal, seemingly ok on the outside ID folks who were in special education have been withheld from learning about special education. That’s what I’m getting at.

My posts are not a rapists way of saying “Well you never know they might be able to consent blah blah” No. Consent is explicit. It is something that is heavily debated on within the medical community because they still don’t believe that people with ID, even mild ID, have the minds of adults instead of “children”. Mental age is a HUGE problem, that’s what I’m getting at.

I’m not creating a grey area. I’m not intending to at least. Either someone consents or they don’t, either they’re able to or they’re not. That is between them, their caretakers/parents/support team, and doctors. Although, these people can be wrong. And that’s what I’m also getting at.

Do you see what I’m saying? I’m not creating a grey area, I’m trying to open up a conversation that had been in the ID community for DECADES. Decades of being ignored and being told that ALL people with ID cannot consent when that isn’t true. See what I’m saying?

I hope this helps. Have a nice day.

[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

-

[...] 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.)

[rebellum]

Consent ISNT actually that cut and dry and it's fascinating.

Like, if a woman with dementia forgets who her husband is, but at her shared living / home situation / whatever finds a guy she likes who also has dementia and they start dating, that's an ethical conundrum. Because we SHOULD let them do what they want, they aren't hurting eachother. But what about her still alive and non-dementia husband? She is consenting to being in a relationship, but she's not actually consenting to cheat, because she doesn't know she is and that she has a husband. (Overall the actual ethical consensus is: Let her date the guy. They are happy together. Even if it hurts her husband.)

But how does that change when her husband is there in the same living facility, also has dementia, but remembers who she is while she doesn't remember who he is? Whose pain is allowed?

She can probably consent to physical intimacy, but not to physical violence - if she started hurting herself, the workers should stop her from injuring herself (tho, of course, that's a Whole Thing. Like no, you can't put a woman in a straight jacket to stop her from hurting herself, even if she has dementia, because that's distressing to her)

Or, like... okay, parents deserve to overall and usually be in charge of their children's healthcare, right? Like, if a baby is dying, and the parents say 'do everything to save them' they should be listened to, right? Cut and dry. Obviously you have to save the baby.

But, no, actually. Sometimes, medical ethicists have to make the decision that no, the baby CANT be saved. It's a heartbreaking thing for everyone involved. But yeah, if a baby is born and probably has only a few months to live, they have to be put on a DNR usually. Because even if the parents want their infant resuscitated, that process is SO damaging to the infant's body that its unethical to do it. It honestly is better to deny the parents the right to their child's life, because it's not fair to the child to try to give them broken and bruised ribs just so they can live another few months. Resuscitation is extremely hard on the body, especially so on frail ones. The baby can't consent, but you have a duty to protect them, even if that means going against the consent of the people who would typically be the ones to consent on the patients behalf.

But, back to sex, cause that's more interesting.

Can someone with an intellectual disability* consent to sex? Well, yes. But at what severity that does answer become no?

*with regards to language use and "intellectual disability", it's odd because we say "AN" intellectual disability, but there aren't multiple types. But in order to use people-first language and centre the personhood, you can't say "intellectually disabled" because that reduces a person to one small defining factor. So the language is a bit weird.

I knew someone on a bdsm server and they were really nice, cute person, we shared some funny sex stories. And then I found something out: they had to sneak out of the house to have sex, despite being 19. Because they had an intellectual disability. They lived with their parents and sibling, because they couldn't live alone. Having an intellectual disability meant they had trouble understanding cause and effect, and thinking of multiple things at once enough to be able to handle household management. But, in my opinion, they could absolutely consent to sex. They understood what sex was, and the dangerous of sneaking out to have hookups.

Their perspective is: I need help with some things, but I am still perfectly capable of doing many things on my own. I love my family, but it feels like a prison here, and its ridiculous I have to sneak out like a child in order to enjoy things I like to do. I would be much happier with more freedom.

Their parents perspective is: I have an adult child with an intellectual disability. I worry about them so much, because I just want to keep them safe, and they can't understand the consequences of their actions. They keep sneaking out to do something dangerous. I have to protect them from themself.

The issue here is that every case is so specific, and because someone has an ID it's culturally considered okay to deny them their freedom and their right to consent. This person was capable, in my opinion as someone who knew them, of consenting to sex. I'm not sure if they could consent to bdsm. What's the line? How do you determine if capable of making their own decisions? About things that are how risky? How is that decision made by parents, doctors, etc, impacted by biases? Because it's very, VERY common for people without an ID to be treated like children if they "remind people of children" because they're short (eg. People with dwarfism), or need help moving around (people with severe physical disabilities), or have trouble speaking (they need a picture board to communicate; they can speak but their speech is slurred). Society is so convinced of the general infantality of people with disabilities that it's difficult to make any sort of decision with regards to someone living with an ID, because they often CAN'T consent to things, because they don't understand. But does that actually mean they can't consent? Because, at least in the mentally ill bdsm community, it's well accepted that people can consent to BDSM even if they have a distorted view of reality. Someone can consent even if they think everyone hates them. People can consent to sex and bdsm even if they think the FBI is employing aliens to watch them. It does get tricky - eg for many people with psychotic or paranoia or delusional episodes, they feel they can't consent when in an episode. But others absolutely can (I once had sex with a partner while I was convinced it wasn't my partner and was actually an alien or demon mimic. But I was horny anyways and was like 60% certain they weren't them, and 40% certain it was them and I was having an episode." But altered states are so fascinating! Within the age play community, there can be a divide about whether if eg one is at an event, and a little wants to have sex and they're in littlespace, and the big doesn't know that person well, whether it's unethical or not to have sex with that person. For a lot of people, the answer is "unless it's been discussed when they're not in littlespace, then you have to assume they can't consent." For others it's "look, they're here, that probably means they can consent." But I have absolutely heard of incidences where afterwards someone was like "I actually was in littlespace and yes I wanted it, but i couldn't consent in the same way as when I'm an adult." And situations where someone has gotten upset and annoyed because someone assumed they couldn't consent just because they were in littlespace.

But having sex with someone in another altered state, like intoxicated or on drugs, is considered not okay if the other person isn't ALSO in a similar state.

It's all so fascinating because you can have 100 people in the same scenario but 100 different answers for how to proceed.

[cripplecharacters]

Hi! I have a character with a mild learning disability, and I'm struggling to find any sources that properly explain how a person with this would act when they are struggling (if that makes sense). How would I go about writing a respectful depiction of him struggling with applying to jobs for the first time? Thank you!

Hello!

Since I don't know where you or our followers are from and I don't like to assume, I would like to point out that the term “learning disability” means a different thing in the UK than it means in most other places.

In the UK, a learning disability means an intellectual disability, a condition that affects IQ and things like reasoning, adaptive functioning, and abstract thinking, in which case our guide by mod Sasza could be really helpful for you, and researching “intellectual disability” might get you more resources if you’re struggling to find them.

In most other places, a learning disability refers to a specific learning disability in a particular area, such as dyslexia (affects reading & language processing), dysgraphia (affects writing & fine motor skills), or dyscalculia (affects numbers and mathematical info). In that case, you would have to think about the specific learning disability your character has in order to figure out what exactly they struggle with in regards to applying for a job. These, by the way, are known as “learning difficulties” in the UK.

As examples, someone who is dyslexic might have trouble reading the requirements on job postings or struggle with writing their resume, while someone who is dyscalculic might have trouble figuring out dates for interviews or comparing hourly rates or salaries.

In either case: it can be really, really frustrating and overwhelming to navigate a system that doesn't have you in mind at all. So it's realistic for your character to feel overwhelmed, upset, or angry if they are having a difficult time with interviews or resume writing. Them needing help, a little or a lot, is okay, but the character can be annoyed or feel whatever feelings they feel towards that. If part of the character is trouble with emotional regulation, whether because of their disability or not, it is reasonable to depict them feeling any of those emotions and dealing with them in whatever way is in character for them.

You as the writer can treat that frustration with care by making it clear that the character should, in fact, be getting the help they need, whether or not they're getting it. But, for example, it could be really cool if they had a person willing to help them out with the whole process!

Sorry it's not more specific, but the two separate meanings of "learning disability" complicate it a bit. Good luck!

- Mod Sparrow

[wowbright]

IDK if there's anyone out there who can help with this, but I am studying physics and chemistry and for some reason, as long as I can remember, I always initially process "nuclear fission" as meaning "nuclear fusion."

Like, intellectually, I know what the actual words mean and if I stop and think about it, I can get it right. But I always have to think about it consciously and think through it step by step, which is kind of an inconvenient way to do language.

Anyone have any thoughts on how to get over this? I don't have any diagnosed or suspected specific learning disabilities, and I can't think of any other words/phrases in English (my native language) that give me this problem.