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#nonspeaking autistic
clownrecess · 9 months
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Happy disabled pride month to disabled people with undiagnosed physical disabilities
Happy disabled pride month to disabled people with undiagnosed mental disabilities
Happy disabled pride month to mobility aid users
Happy disabled pride month to disabled people who are in constant pain
Happy disabled pride month to AAC users
Happy disabled pride month to disabled people with ableist family
Happy disabled pride month to fat disabled people
Happy disabled pride month to disabled people with scars
Happy disabled pride month to disabled addicts
Happy disabled pride month to disabled people who's disability is progressing
Happy disabled pride month to disabled people who love their disability
Happy disabled pride month to disabled people who hate their disability
Happy disabled pride month to disabled people with underrepresented and/or uncommonly known disabilities
Happy disabled pride month to all disabled people. I love you. /p
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tobytalksaac · 3 months
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Reminder that AAC device/mobility aid does not ruin your outfit!
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arquaticdreamer · 6 days
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New bluey communication cards
ID:
1. Silly picture of Bingo with phrase "I'm unreliably/Nonspeaking" on white background and blue border
2. Pink poodle bluey character waving hi with "my name is Cloud, I use He/They Pronouns" on white background and blue border
3. Short navy and grey puppy from bluey with blue tutu on stimming with phrase "I need space"
4. Bluey with mouth agape and hands close to mouth with phrase "I'm struggling to talk" white background blue border
5. Bingo fallen to knees and hands in air phrase says "I'm overstimulated"
6. White and brown girl puppy with teal glasses from bluey with phrase that says "Caregiver: Mizu" and blured out phone number below l. White background blue border
End ID:
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one-in-a-cocomelon · 10 months
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nonverbal mean can’t talk mouth words not mean can’t communicate any way wish people all stop try change nonverbal words try change what mean because wrong nonverbal mean not talk mouth words that it stop say mean else thing because wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong Tay nonverbal whole whole life real nonverbal not talk little bit say nonverbal am real nonverbal no words whole whole life know means nonverbal no mouth words that it no else things upset upset upset
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wxrmeaterz · 29 days
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uh just cus u experience verbal shutdown does NOT mean u r semiverbal
semiverbality is not:
being unable to speak when anxious , stressed , tired or overwhelmed (this is verbal shutdown)
or
being unable to use most words or phrases when anxious , stressed , tired or overwhelmed (this is also verbal shutdown)
semiverbality is:
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stop misusing verbality labels
we will not engage with discourse on this topic as we do not have to spoons to do so
-Arson (a semiverbal alter) (it/xe) + Sorine gatekeeper (death/hate/flesh)
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chasm-side · 14 days
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I'm reading an academic article about autism and neurodivergence, and this stopped me dead. What the fuck, what the fuck
"Furthermore, at the time of writing, there is still one facility in the United States (the Judge Rotenberg Center in Massachusetts) that employs electric shock on Autistic people as punishment to enforce neuronormative behaviour, despite an initial ban in 2020 (Young and McMahon, 2021). Given that these residents are among the most vulnerable members of the Autistic population, those who are non-speaking or with high support needs (overlapping but not identical groups), the lack of public will to end this abuse is a significant political and human rights issue."
-- Eleanor Thomas, "Why critical psychology and the neurodiversity movement need each other." Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 15, Jan. 2024.
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autisticlee · 10 months
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I often think about how many nonspeaking autistic people get treated like they are unintelligent, incapable of thought or learning, and will never be able to communicate, from the time they are time children. so many parents of autistic kids and even "professionals" base their intelligence and/or ability to learn and communicate on their ability to speak. it's so sad to see.
I always think about how many autistic kids might never get the chance to communicate because their judgemental parents don't try to teach them basic things or give them an alternative form of communication. so many "autism parents" seem to think if their child doesn't speak, or has impared speech, that means they are incapable of using or understanding words.
i'm sure there's a lot of autistic people who do have that disability, not being able to learn or understand words at all and therefore unable to learn communication methods i mention. but how many can learn to understand just fine and have the ability to communicate with other means that isn't physically speaking, but are never taught any language or communication skills? how many could use alternate communication if given the chance? what if instead of speaking for their child because their child can't physically speak, the parents taught them how to write, how to type on a phone/computer, how to use sign language, or use AAC device? (whichever they are able/most comfortable with) how many are denied that chance, treated like they are "stupid" and can't understand anything anyone says to them, but they understand it all and just can't communicate that to anyone?
I imagine it feels like being trapped. so much to say, but unable. people speaking for and over you, going against your wants and needs, deciding everything for you because you can't make words come out of your mouth, and they didn't give you another way to make words.
i'm semi-speaking, if that's the correct way to refer to myself? I can speak when i'm not overloaded. when i'm too overwhelmed and go into shutdown mode, i'm unable to speak at all even if i really want to. i mainly only speak to close family/friends when at home and have great difficulty trying to speak outside of home and with people i dont know well. it took me almost 2 years to be able to minimally speak to the staff at a place i volunteer every week, and still have trouble asking questions or even saying hell/goodbye. but on a good day, if I try really hard, I can say a few sentences! if i'm completely comfortable and in a stable or familiar environment, I can have "normal" conversation. though, talking exhausts me so I still can't do it for extended periods and prefer not to. I prefer to listen. I get tired and overwhelmed a lot faster if I have to speak a lot, especially when i'm not at home and in an overwhelming environment.
I know it's VRRY different from nonspeakers, but just from the experiences I had as a kid, I can kind of try to imagine how frustrating it may be for the ones who may be denied the chance to communicate: as a kid, school overwhelmed and overloaded me to the point where just the noisy school bus in the mornings caused a shutdown that lasted all day. I would be unable to speak at school at all and beat myself up over it because I could not get words out. I would try, but I was physically unable to produce sounds in the form of words. sometimes I could make a squeak sound or one word out of a whole sentence. if I did manage to get words out, it was too quiet or slurred and no one could hear or understand me. I couldn't answer anyone 99% of the time at school (or anywhere else that overwhelmed me)
people did and said things I couldn't respond to. my needs were denied. people decided things for me. other kids bullied me, the teachers bullied me, they acted like I couldn't understand them sometimes and treated me like a baby. I would sometimes write responses in a notebook or on a paper. i've had my responses torn up and thrown away by other kids and teachers. getting told to speak instead. it was so frustrating, isolating, and dehumanizing.
but there were rare times I could speak. this made them even more insistent about trying to force me to speak and was always told I was doing it on purpose (and they eventually made me believe it! I couldn't figure out why I couldn't stop choosing to do it! i had so much to say and didn't know why i could not say any of it!) trying to make me speak became a game for them. if I did say a word, they treated me like a baby or a dog doing a command. they would act like they won a game. it felt so dehumanizing like I was a circus act. they called me a scary freak and I felt like one... evenrually I learned I'm autistic and that's what's causing it, that sensory overload, overwhelmed, and stress cause me to lose my speech ability, that it's not my fault. i'm still not sure if I'm doing better now because I learned I'm autistic and can regulate it better and avoid triggers that lead to shutdown, or it's because i'm not in school anymore and spend most of my time at home where I control my environment and needs.
but I feel like that whole experience as a kid gave me a very small taste of what I imagine some nonspeakers experience. it makes me think about the ones denied a communication outlet a lot 😭 they must feel so isolated and frustrated and might not ever get or got the chance to tell anyone about it. we might never get to hear about their experiences and what they feel and go through.
even ones who are given an outlet and taught language and alternate form of communication like typing or AAC, or whatever they need, and are still treated poorly just because they are unable to physically speak or communicate...I think about you too and hope you're able to do well and keep going. I think you're doing great and i'm proud of you 💜 I haven't been able to find many posts online from nonspeakers, so if you want to share your stories, I will listen. you can write a post or find posts already made and send it to me and I will read!
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nonspeakingpoetry · 1 year
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Solace
Do not repost without my permission, even then, you must credit me.
Safety, warmth. A magical sensation, a sensation of true belonging, a sensation of hope. A sensation of solace. A solace I long for. A solace I yearn for, even.
Why is it some achieve this solace within you so easily? Born into this solace, this warmth. I sit in silence, as the intervening cold grows near. This cold, this trepidation, as I grew it grew too. Trepidation turned to hubris. Hubris brain, hubris heart.
Shame. Hubris is shameful.
Fix it.
Fix it.
Fix it.
Fix it, or that warmth we speak so highly of will come to you, it will come to you with the strength of a titan. Warmth will turn to hot, hot will turn to burns. Deep burns. Burns that will melt your skin, melt the layers clean off your bones.
Those sickly bones.
The warmth was never warm. It was no solace.
I've now found that through the disquiet of the cold I missed the point.
You, were the cold. Ice. Ice so cold, so unfathomably cold it burns skin. Leaving deep pink scars atop my outsides.
Some species, the polar bear for example, are meant for the cold. They thrive in it. However, when you take a snake, and suddenly pitch it into the snow, well, it dies.
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autball · 6 months
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We. Can. Hear. You.
It’s AAC Awareness Month! AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) is more than just high tech devices like the one depicted here. It includes picture books/cards, sign language, writing it down, Spelling to Communicate - basically anything that conveys a message that is not speech. 
And anyone can use it! If you are non-speaking, unreliably speaking, not-yet speaking, or just find words hard sometimes, then AAC is for you. There is no “non-speaking enough” threshold you have to meet - if it makes your life easier, go ahead and use it.
AAC is empowering. People routinely talk about autistic kids and adults like they’re not even in the room, even when they CAN speak. (Which, if you’re someone who does this, STOP IT RIGHT NOW.) This parent could have assured this asshole professional person that her son could understand til they were blue in the face, and they wouldn’t have been believed if he hadn’t been able to communicate it for himself. 
Communication is a right. Don’t let anyone try to discourage AAC on the basis of it hindering speech or “being the easy way out” or whatever other nonsense they come up with. AAC *enhances* communication, and everyone deserves the ability to communicate their needs, tell you their thoughts and feelings, share their hopes and dreams, and tell people to fuck off when needed. 😉
(Image description in Alt Text.)
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meowtismz · 3 months
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Something people NEED understand is.
NO we not WANT an AAC device
NO we not WANT a wherlchair
NO we not WANT use a cane
NO we not WANT any disability aid
We NEED it. Is not a desire is a NECESSITY
Get this inside dumbass brain of you already! Need stop think us disabled people like be disabled just because proud or aware need help.
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my frustration with “going nonverbal/nonspeaking” (as a fully nonverbal person)
transcript: my frustration with “going nonverbal/nonspeaking” (as a fully nonverbal person)
this written for instagram because of this post. but thought tumblr may like it too. “you” means general you, no one specific.
the instagram post and this on wordpress
this disclaimer is for instagram but also for anyone new to this discussion:
in full honestly, don’t know how to write this. am tired, language and complex ideas too much at time of writing, and general exhaust at having to argue same thing over and over again and justify own existence. tired of being minority within minority, wish there are others to do these work for me so i don’t have to do it all by self, singlehandedly advocate for everyone (not to mention problem with that—i can’t speak for everyone).
so honestly, if you don’t have anything nice to say, especially if you speaking (yes, even if you lose speech. include you), just don't say anything at all. move on.
online actually autistic community (AAut) dominated by white, lower support needs. level 1, speaking, late diagnosed, high masking autistics. find people like you is great, what not great is you treat your very narrow community as “voice of all autistic” and your experience as ultimate autistic experience. i write plenty about that, many more elaborate than this, if you not familiar with this concept.
many people in this community experience times when cannot speak, sometimes because overwhelm, shutdown, dissociate, or anxiety (situational mutism), but do not struggle with act of speaking rest of time (some struggle with speech all the time but still can speak - more on that later). the community call “going nonverbal/nonspeaking,” or even “when i am nonverbal nonspeaking” (not talking about those nonverbal as child and verbal now older), after clinical term “nonverbal” (nonverbal autism) and term coined by apraxic nonspeaking autistics “nonspeaking.”
both of which talk about it as an “all the time” experience.
when i search nonverbal or nonspeaking because i want community too, want see people like me too, two category i see: 1) parents of nonverbal nonspeaking children, whom can’t relate to because age, who can’t write own experience because their age and developmental ability. and 2) overwhelming amount of speaking autistic talk about going nonverbal going nonspeaking.
and the very very few fully nonverbal nonspeaking voices. drowned out. cannot find anyone.
nonverbal used to be term to describe us, people who can’t speak or cannot functionally speak beyond few words. medical term, alright, so some of us don’t like. so some of us reject that and create term all of our own, called nonspeaking. created by nonspeaking autistics with severe apraxia and brain body disconnect, describe their own experience of able to think in words able to spell out words (with great dedication and work and support), just cannot do that with mouth. their term. they create.
and you take it? without knowing context? without reading anything by those same nonspeaking coiners?
when is last time you purposely seek out nonverbal nonspeaking voices? when is last time you accidentally came across us? can you name any nonverbal nonspeaking advocate that talk about their experiences? one? two? three? a BIPOC person, a (specifically) Black person? a Black woman? a trans person? a physically disabled person? a person not from western world?
same narrative over and over. “i can speak for nonverbal autistic i understand their experience because i am autistic i can’t talk sometimes” no you cannot. as someone who was able to speak when young who lose speech (”go nonverbal”) but now have no speech to lose because full time nonverbal. no the experience not the same. not comparable. you gain it back. i don’t. you can explain with mouth words what happen when you get out. i can’t, i only have AAC. countless nonverbal nonspeaking people without AAC or sign cannot, at all. you never experience daily small and big struggle of casually being nonverbal all the time.
your experience of lose speech unique from my nonverbal. but if you so insist to compare and equate, you only guest to my experience, my daily life.
“when i go nonverbal and no one understand so have to force to speak” i cannot force words out. know you don’t mean to say this, and not saying you at fault for this, but nevertheless accidental perpetuate and reinforce idea that anyone who don’t speak can just be forced to speak if try hard enough. but often not how it works. and this exact harmful rhetoric devoid and delays nonverbal nonspeaking people given access to AAC, because “need try to force words out first, AAC unnatural so last resort.”
this may be new concept for you. new concept to instagram, to tiktok. to other places. it may seem i only one with this problem, “i once saw a nonspeaking person’s account and they don’t have problem.”
yeah, because we are not monolith. some nonverbal nonspeaking people don’t care. some nonverbal nonspeaking people may even welcome “go nonverbal nonspeaking” or “when i am nonverbal nonspeaking.”
but don’t be fooled into believe i only one. have many nonverbal/nonspeaking and/or higher support needs friends on tumblr, who talk about this who have been saying this for years. *years*. years before i joined. i am not creator, i only bring message here, because many of us are too high support needs too disabled to do anything else. many of us only stay on our small corner of tumblr because it most peaceful, because at least some listen, because least hostile, because need to defend our experience against our own community the least. (but it happens less doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, we still exhausted.) many of us only stay on our small corner of tumblr because that all we can handle, or because we not allowed or shouldn’t be on other social media because age or abilities or both.
i cannot handle conflict i do not do well and i shouldn’t be here. but if not me, who else? if i don’t do it, who else is going to?
some nonverbal nonspeaking people and parents of them may question, why you start debate about useless term when so many nonverbal nonspeaking people don’t even have access to communicate, real problems. to that i say i do those work too. and to that i say this is real problem too, because am autistic so online actually autistic community should also be my space too but it not. but it hostile. because am lonely because seeing yourself so crucial because don’t know anyone in person like me don’t have any friends in person like me, so i go online to find people like me and i cannot because no own term to search and what used to be term many people without similar experience insist they understand and can speak for me because they say we have similar experience. because this aloneness and the unique difficulty from being full time nonverbal and the struggle of future and the unique mistreatment from both outside but also inside community have drove me over edge many times and it is presence and knowing their presence of my tumblr nonverbal nonspeaking / higher support needs friends that gave me hope to stay. because so many people don’t listen and instead speak over. terminology only a symptom of problem. address roots, sure, but part of address roots is address symptoms.
‘well nonverbal people are never around” maybe it because you don’t make it welcome for us to join.
“fully nonverbal rare anyway” estimated 30% of us nonverbal nonspeaking, which this statistic probably only count those nonverbal since birth. even more are minimally speaking or without full functional communication, abilities limited to requests. sure, 30% still not majority. but significant amount never the less. speaking lower support needs autistic without intellectual disability not majority anyway too but your experience still deserve heard. ours too.
“see less nonverbal people because they don't have ability to communicate and use social media” yes, many nonverbal nonspeaking people not given access to communication (like AAC), forced to live in silence (because body language communication not enough alone!). silence from birth to teenage years, to adulthood, even until they die. some cannot understand social media or AAC because intellectual disability or cognitive ability. some not allowed on there because safety, some not allowed on because presumed incompetent and abused. all true. do you advocate for them too? or is it just talking point against me, pretend you care?
but not all of us, we exist. some of us thankfully supportive parents all along, parents given resources, us given resources, so we access to AAC since beginning. some of us became nonverbal later in life (which not same experience as those early in life, i acknowledge). some of us after years of forced silence, finally given access to AAC and can now communicate and advocate! some of us on social media - do you listen?
but you see none of us in your community anyway. maybe one token person.
you can go nonverbal. i cannot go verbal. see difference? you can come close to my experience, but i never will have (future) ability to go to yours.
it frustrate that have to specify am nonverbal **all the time** when write this, because if don’t do that will be assumed otherwise. frustrate that when in neurodivergent space stranger see me AAC they assume i can speak because they only know part time users (know part time users frustrate too because people assume they cannot speak and get surprised when they do. me being assumed automatic part time is not fault of part time AAC users.)
even been told am privileged to be nonverbal nonspeaking, privilege over speaking autistic who lose speech because in their mind it mean i get all support i need i get all recognition get all the representation. which. couldn’t be farther from truth.
all that. is fraction of reason i frustrate at “going nonverbal nonspeaking” and “when i was nonverbal nonspeaking.”
so many other words. lose speech. intermittent speech.
just want have own sub community where can find people similar experience.
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clownrecess · 1 year
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It is not inappropriate for AAC users to have acsess to swear words.
My peers started swearing at around age 10, and if that is what language the speaking people of that age are using, nonspeaking people have the same right.
Not giving us acsess to the same type of language as our peers feels alienating, it doesn't let us communicate with the same language and terms our peers and friends do. We are not babies. We are not stupid. We are the same as our speaking peers. Just because you can sometimes control what language we use, doesnt mean you should.
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tobytalksaac · 3 months
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Reminder not to change topic when you know AAC user is typing!!! Let us add to topic before continuing!
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arquaticdreamer · 5 days
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ID: P2G AAC app tablet 6x10 with message bar saying, “Cloud feel so frustrated!” End ID
Autistic Vent: Part of being high support needs autistic is always feeling frustrated and angry about just generally everything that can’t do or things like Abl**sm and things that are inaccessible to us (especially as wheelchair users, and mobility users). Needing to use mobility aids should never be something that should be shamed for or made more difficult but Cloud just today had to deal with disabled inaccessibility at the local Denny’s Diner cafe with only one disabled parking slot and someone had already parked there, there were no other disabled parking spots but that single one user and so Caregiver had to park farther away from the front because the disabled parking was farther away from the front door of the diner and everywhere else was too far away to be wheeled. Cloud dealt with this poised and gracefully and just really wanted to sit down and have breakfast and thankfully the experience inside the Denny’s was much better than the actual parking problem. But still there needs to be more renovation for disabled parking places, and accessibility. That includes closer disabled parking and not just ONE!
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one-in-a-cocomelon · 10 months
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Confuse confuse confuse so much people say them nonverbal community say listen nonverbal people say not take nonverbal word but them not actual nonverbal to do posts say mostly nonverbal non speak primary nonverbal non speak can mouth talk some time do some talk words can do mouth words just more easy do aac not mouth words and not understanding doing same else people stealing nonverbal people words all that not actual nonverbal can do mouth words even hard even not all time not nonverbal
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pixierainbows · 2 months
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Pixie give up . Autism people too angry refuse to stop say “going nonverbal” . refuse to listen … and Pixie just . Can not any more . Crying so much upset so much nobody care at all … just How very very different is to never be able speak … not AT ALL same as losing Mouth words sometimes .
pixie all done being talked over and ignored and yelled at and told go kill pixie self … pixie WISH could just stop exist …
pixie ALL DONE .
from now on . People who miss use actually nonverbal words, Pixie just BLOCK . not care If mean Pixie not welcome in autism community anymore , Pixie never been welcome by community pixie Never welcome by speaking autism people anyway .
is no safe place for Pixie . :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(
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