dear neurotypicals,

a safe space for neurodivergent people (anyone with a mental illness and/or disability) to speak freely

[chrome-barkz-aac]

i made this instagram post !!! there isn't as big of a community of AAC users on instagram so I thought I would share this on my instagram (@cytochromesea).

EDIT: i got an ask that states that not everyone knows what AAC is which is an oversight on my part, it stands for alternative and augmentative communication!

Image ID:

A light blue background with a rainbow and a cloud and some stars. There is a blue border collie with wings holding an aac tablet that says I love you! Text reads: AAC etiquette. Do’s, Don’ts, and other stuff. By cytochrome sea.

The same background appears in every following slide. Text reads:

AAC is my voice! It is not a toy or accessory

Don’t touch my AAC without my permission

Don’t take my AAC away from me, for any reason (joke, punishment, etc)

Don’t press buttons randomly or flip through my communication cards without permission

How would you like it if I randomly poked you on the mouth and throat (or on your hands if you sign)? It would be unpleasant, so don’t do that to me

Some AAC users can speak sometimes. It is not your business why someone can or cannot talk

Don’t ask questions about why an AAC user cannot speak. 

Do let us communicate however is best for us in that moment

Don’t ask us if or when we will be able to speak verbally. It’s not your business 

Do not value verbal speech more highly than AAC. Any communication is good communication

Some of us never talk, either, and that’s ok! Those of us who can talk sometimes are not better than those of us who can’t. None of us owe you an explanation for our use of AAC.

Don’t look at my screen until I show you. It feels really invasive!

It feels like when someone is looking at your phone screen over your shoulder, so please don’t do this

This applies to low tech AAC as well, don’t look at someone’s cards or letter board until they show you

You have the dignity of forming your thoughts in your head before you say them, whereas my thoughts are all on display. Please afford me the same dignity that you get automatically.

Don’t shame someone for not being able to speak verbally. It makes us feel horrible

We are real people with thoughts and feelings. Please treat us with kindness. 

We are trying our best

Don’t shame someone if their device mispronounces a word. It’s quite literally out of our control.

Other Don’ts. Don’t

Don't Treat an AAC user as childish or stupid for not being able to speak. Our ability to speak does not define our worth

Don't Show frustration at the way someone communicates

Don't Make comments about how fast or slow we communicate

Also don’t…

don't Act surprised when we swear or talk about adult topics like sex, drugs, or violence. We are not pure uwu precious smol beans, we are normal fucking people

don't Assume what is “wrong” with us. There are about a hundred reasons for someone to use AAC and you probably aren’t the expert in any of them.

“OK, so what CAN i do?” im glad you asked! When interacting with an AAC user, DO…

Ask us how we prefer to communicate and support us as you are able

Assume that we are competent

Talk to us with the same respect, tone and vocabulary that you would for any one else

Give us money (this one is a joke)

Understand that AAC grammar isn’t perfect and we are doing our best

Is it rude if…

I can’t understand your device? Not rude! Misunderstandings happen all the time in any conversation, just be patient as you would normally. 

I want to complement your AAC? Not rude!

I ask to see your AAC and understand how it works? This isn’t rude if you are already talking about AAC, but don’t ask random strangers this. They don’t owe you an AAC tour. 

Thank you for listening! This post is for the community! If you are an AAC user, let me know if I missed something in the comments and I will pin it! I hope you are filled with peace and love and I hope something good happens to you today! End ID. 

[rainybnuuy]

Thank you so much, this helped me form many things I was thinking but couldn't order correctly.

[identitty-dickruption]

I feel like every other week I have to make a post reminding people that autism is a disability. but. autism is a disability. it is disabling. a majority of autistic people do not need to be told that they are not trying hard enough to “overcome” one symptom or another. we do not need to be told that we’re weird or hard to talk to or slow or whatever else people always seem to think about us already. and we don’t need to be talked down to about how inconvenient we’re being when we Have Autism Symptoms. this is a disability. I can promise you we are aware that it disables us. that’s kind of the whole thing

[identitty-dickruption]

fuck it bringing my original tags onto the main post because I just saw another post: #stop making those fucking ‘do autistic people know how good it is if you meet NTs halfway’ posts

the thing about those posts is that they inherently imply that:

your average autistic person isn't Already trying hard enough to conform to allistic/neurotypical/'normal' ways of being

any accommodations an autistic person may ask for are unreasonable unless said autistic person has already 'tried hard enough' to function without them

the onus is always on the autistic person to do the 'meeting halfway', rather than being on the non-autistic person

"autistic people complain about small talk being useless, but small talk actually has xyz function and people find you difficult if you don't meet that function" do you think that autistic people don't notice when people find us difficult. do you think we aren't aware of how disabling it is to have a communication disability. don't you think that maybe when we complain about these things it is because other people constantly place unfair and unreasonable expectations on us and that those expectations can be impossible or incredibly difficult to meet. and that might have an impact on our overall well-being

an autistic person can cognitively Know all the rules of smalltalk and still not be able to do it (hi! that's me!). we can Know that we're 'supposed to' make a small smile and maintain eye contact and tilt your head at exactly the right angle and blink at a speed that doesn't unnerve people and ask the other person questions for just over half of the conversation time and Still Not Be Able To Do It. comrades that is what puts the 'dis' into 'disability'. be nicer be gentler be more patient amen

[chronicbitchsyndrome]

im sure you've already considered this but "if you can't write an email or a cover letter on your own you are a lazy degenerate and should simply learn to do better" is literally less than one step away from "it's fine for disabled people to struggle with employment, we should not take any steps to rectify this as it is the just and good way of the world and can be navigated through individual hard work"

[nemo-bros]

hi this is your very friendly reminder that low-tech and no-tech AAC is just as valid as high-tech AAC

and also that even though high-tech devices and tablets can be life changing technology for many people, not everyone...

can use them

have access to them

want to use them

some examples of low-tech AAC:

core boards

flipbooks

picture/symbol cards

communication cards

alphabet/letter boards

pen and paper

some examples of no-tech AAC:

nodding/moving head

pointing

blinking or looking in certain directions

hand signals like a thumbs up

body language such as moving or kicking legs

other gestures like clapping, snapping, making non-word vocal sounds

here is a link about no-tech AAC (written in mostly plain language):

What is No Tech AAC?

In this blog post, we talk about "no tech" AAC, which is a type of AAC where an individual uses no materials other than their body to commun

[chronicbitchsyndrome]

every time anyone talks about liberation for the intellectually disabled in any real material way (i.e. creating plain-language educational resources accessible to adults reading on a first-grade level, detangling literacy from basic requirements to participate in society, destigmatizing inability to benefit from pedagogy, criticizing the construct of financial literacy as a necessary skill, etc etc etc), some chud comes along calling it "anti-intellectualism" and blabbing about how you're a morally inferior person if you only read middle-grade novels for fun, i'm so tired and we are never making it out

[chronicbitchsyndrome]

"obviously i'm not talking about DISABLED people, just the people who are too lazy and self-absorbed to do the work they CAN do" is literally the foundation of a major school of ableist thought and is not the rhetorical dodge you think it is, buddy

[identitty-dickruption]

I feel like every other week I have to make a post reminding people that autism is a disability. but. autism is a disability. it is disabling. a majority of autistic people do not need to be told that they are not trying hard enough to “overcome” one symptom or another. we do not need to be told that we’re weird or hard to talk to or slow or whatever else people always seem to think about us already. and we don’t need to be talked down to about how inconvenient we’re being when we Have Autism Symptoms. this is a disability. I can promise you we are aware that it disables us. that’s kind of the whole thing

[inzaltsiknyam]

adhd isn't a "minor disability" either it has a profound effect on a person's life and people with ADHD are frequently discriminated against

[birdofmay]

So I know this "Be careful what you say" post is an older post, but I just wanted to show you what making a lot of progress as a "nonverbal from birth" person can look like. Regarding speech.

I don't have regressive autism, my inability to speak was there since, well, forever.

So. I was put in a lot of therapies. Speech therapy to 1. learn sign language and handle an AAC device, 2. to understand spoken language (I didn't understand spoken language until I was 3), and 3. to get more conscious of what my throat does, etc. Music therapy because I always loved music and tried to hum along to songs even back when I didn't understand language.

At some point they checked if I could say single letters or words, etc. And so on. They/we tried a lot.

So, what's the result for me personally now?

I can sing along to songs as long as I know the lyrics by heart and don't have to think about what my mouth does.

I can sometimes say single words as long as I don't have to think about what my mouth does (it doesn't work if someone says "Hey, say [word]").

I can sing melodies using vowels (a, e, i, o, u), as long as these melodies don't contain words.

I have echolalia - which makes sense because echolalia is "automatic" too and not a conscious effort to speak.

So I can do ALL of these really cool things after years of therapy..........

But I still can't speak. At least I can't communicate via speech. After all these years where people tried so much, I still can't speak.

So much for learning how to do something if you just try hard enough ☝🏼

[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”

[inzaltsiknyam]

I've tried to rawdog stores and public transit by not wearing ear defenders and I've felt (more) severely physically exhausted from it because sensory issues are just a lil' quirky.

[inzaltsiknyam]

need to mention that when I maximize accessibility for myself I'm still very disabled from just sensory issues alone--not to mention all the other disabling aspects of my autism.

autism disables me

in how I walk

interact with the built environment (I! hate! car-centric! infrastructure! it! is! dangerous!)

interact socially with strangers

interact socially with anyone

understand pain or other body signals

understand instructions (including....surgery aftercare instructions....which I am right now in hell about)

my ability to hold a regular job

my ability to understand information

my ability to convey information

ability to understand time

ability to manage my own energy, which is limited

the amount of things I can reasonably do because sensory pain is pain. (I experience chronic pain. I know what that is. Sensory pain is real fucking pain.)

speak. I speak weird. Sometimes I can't speak at all. The longest I have not been able to speak is months.

so many other fucking things

autism is incredibly disabling for every single autistic person. a few autistic people are able to have really decent lives and are mostly rewarded by the capitalist system--just like every single other disability demographic (yes, including intellectual disability. I personally know some people with ID who are very respected in their field, own homes, etc.)....

I am only the level of functional I am now because I have the luxury of creating my own environment most of the time--which requires me to almost never leave my apartment. I rarely speak because I make it a point to not have people to speak to.

My diagnosis is Asperger's Syndrome because it's from the era in which people were given those lmao. If I were to be reevaluated, it'd probably be "level one." I am likely considered "low support needs" (which, reasonably, yeah. I do have significant support needs that are simply not met because I do not qualify for services.).

Autism is a disability and every single autistic person experiences significant disability. Yes, we need to be centering the lives of people most marginalized by our society--so, people given the "low functioning" or "profound" autism designations--but let's not be ridiculous and think there are autistic people who are just a lil' quirky and aren't even disabled. What are we even doing here lol.

[justsomeantifas]

gonna’ be honest. fighting for assisted suicide for mentally ill people before fighting for something like free and widely available dance classes … community centers … free transportation… expanded meals on wheels… etc. is the kind of praxis that accurately shows you just want mentally ill people fucking dead. there’s nothing liberating about it. it’s convincing disabled people that they should act on their illness and simply rid the world of the burden that is themselves instead of doing literally anything else to help them.

[justsomeantifas]

The fact that we can show dancing is more effective at alleviating the symptoms of depression and it isn’t utilized as tool for aiding mentally ill people … it can’t be prescribed …. it cant be afforded by most ..

nor is there a movement to increase places to dance and learn to dance instead we focus on letting the government kill suicidal people is so wild lol.

[justsomeantifas]

Like what’s the thought process here? Throwing drugs at isolated people didn’t work so lets kill them?

ignore any and all research on group activities and alleviation from poverty and put them into the wood chipper?

and you want me to say that is liberating?

you want me to say we have opened up choice to people without any?

when we couldn’t even give them bare essentials of the world?

nah. Just admit you want to see your mentally ill family members and neighbors in the ground.

[transmutationisms]

i think when people talk about dsm diagnoses being 'destigmatised' it's usually the case that what they mean is the public perception of the diagnosis name (depression, anxiety, etc) has become associated with minor, temporary, or resolvable forms of distress. the experience of being so depressed you cannot get out of bed, or brush your teeth, or work -- that experience and those behaviours have never been 'destigmatised,' only associated with other diagnostic labels in certain discourses seeking to present 'depression' as treatable or minor. it's basically a semantic nosological shift, rather than any actual 'destigmatisation' of the behaviours psychiatry exists to pathologise -- widening (minimising) the diagnosis, then just moving any leftover 'scary' symptoms to a different diagnostic bucket. it's a rhetorical shell game that does not challenge, but exists symbiotically with, the ableism that causes behaviours like "not being able to get out of bed" to be stigmatised in the first place.

[sanguinewolves]

no but genuinely the trivialization of anxiety disorders is horrific im not gonna write a whole post i’ve done so much writing today but

[sanguinewolves]

like. man i get paranoia so bad i can’t eat. i can’t have conversations with strangers i perceive as authority figures half the time because i physically can’t speak at an audible volume. it has a serious negative impact on my day to day life. but anxiety disorders are always viewed as like… “mild” mental illnesses. people don’t talk about the fact that anxiety can be legitimately disabling and idk it’s not as stigmatized as some things but it really isn’t taken seriously and that results in a similar lack of support

[sanguinewolves]

seeing a couple ppl in the notes call anxiety one of the “most debilitating” mental illnesses which isn’t really a great thing to be saying. mental illnesses all have different symptoms and cause different struggles and can’t really be measured against each other 1:1 like that. this post wasn’t intended to start trauma olympics and i don’t like the idea that people with any one illness or disability inherently have it worse than people with other illnesses or disabilities. peace and love 👍

[aleswell]

actually a bit ago i was seeing the ID people talking about the ‘its okay to be stupid’ thing and i wanted to talk about it way before because i never know if im stupid or not

to me stupid is a bad thing and smart is a good thing. so i want to be the good thing. but with what words actually mean im stupid? but also maybe smart? because i can be really smart about some things sometimes

but then peoples activism is calling me stupid? and yeah its okay to be stupid but i dont know if im stupid. why should people without ID decide if im stupid? why is that fair? people with better brains and better knowledge deciding im what i was taught is a bad thing out of my control

on tumblr the ID community is a lot of ‘im stupid’ ‘im smart’ ‘its okay to be stupid’ ‘ID people are smart actually’

maybe i just want to be tzvi?? maybe i just want to be tzvi. maybe i just want to be a person. maybe i just want to be a person who exists instead of having to decide if im stupid or smart for other people. maybe i dont want to have to try and figure out everyones different meanings and perceptions of what stupid and smart mean

talking about intellectually disabled peoples worth doesnt have to just be about people arguing if we’re stupid or smart. we’re just people. diverse people with lots of different thoughts and feelings and opinions. and i find other peoples thoughts and feelings and opinions hard to understand like a lot of ID people do but that doesnt mean its not there and its not fair for people who dont struggle with that to decide we dont

im just tzvi. im not stupid. im not smart. im a person and i like a lot of things and i love a lot and i have so much more to talk about. i even have so much about ID to talk about that isnt just watering down the conversation to stupid or smart!

instead of learning about symptoms, traits, struggles, how to actually talk to different ID people, how to respect us as people, you guys are all too busy making random throwaway posts calling us stupid or smart like its not our choice! because you dont know we have a choice! i think a big problem is you guys want to be all radical activists but deep down you dont actually know we’re real people

do better and listen to intellectually disabled people

[nightmaretour]

If you consider yourself a disabled activist or ally and still go around saying shit like "Am I having a stroke?" or "I feel like I'm having a stroke!!" or "you/x must be having a stroke!" in a joking/insulting manner have you considered that maybe you aren't, you're just fucking ableist and I'm allowed to throw rocks at you

[zebulontheplanet]

People are so quick to defend and criticize and attack people who say “autistic people aren’t dumb” and then someone else will follow it up by saying “but some are! Intellectually disabled people deserve to be talked about” and that quite frankly, gives me the ick.

Intellectually disabled people aren’t dumb unless they say they are. Grouping all of them into the “dumb” category is harmful. You’re further stigmatizing intellectually disabled people. Some intellectually disabled people are very smart, and like to be called smart, and like to be noticed as that. Some are average, and like to be acknowledged as that. Some are below average, and “dumb” and some like to be acknowledged as that. BUT that is their choice. That is no one’s choice but their own.

Grouping intellectually disabled people into “dumb people” is harmful. Yes, some of us embrace the word, but some of us don’t.

Stop further stigmatizing the disorder. Most people see intellectually disabled people as “dumb”. It’s time to start taking intellectually disabled people into consideration. If someone says something like that? Simply correct them on their ableist and ignorant behavior. Don’t drag intellectually disabled people into the “dumb” category. That isn’t needed.

[windedcotton-deactivated2025073]

I always find it weird when someone who has intellectual disability is open about it and instead of being Normal about it, everyone floods to reply with "oh IQ is bullshit anyway!" "I'm sure you're smart in other ways!" "oh lots of people just process things slowly and everyone thinks that means you're stupid but Acutally you just learn differently!"

and it's just. why are people so determined to erase a genuine disability? is it because they see it as horrible and negative? why can't disabled people just Be. like why is someone worse because of having intellectual disability? why do people always want to ignore it?

especially the replies like "oh they made me do testing and my IQ is 140 but I still struggled in school and work because of my ADHD, so really IQ means nothing in the Real World" yes IQ testing has lots of issues! doesn't mean intellectual disability isn't real! also those two experiences are in no way comparable holy shit