One of us has a very hard time with words. It took us many years to notice their existence because of this- they only rarely speak with great effort, and most of their communication comes as body sensations and flashed mental images that can be difficult to understand. The rest of us are often very verbally-oriented and simply did not think to listen for other modes of thought and communication until they found a way to forcibly get our attention (namely, smashing our hand into the wall or thrashing our hrad to the side situationally until we made the connection that it did not fit the pattern of a tic or stim).
Learning some basic American Sign Language has helped us talk to them, particularly "thank you", "yes", "no", and "rude". We need to learn more, as they seem to greatly appreciate being responded to in their own language, but it has been a start. Learning to understand their somatic communication has also been a great help, and we are beginning to get to know them. We are still learning to listen.
Outside of us, however, they have been even more isolated. They have managed to express to the rest of us that they often feel unwanted, overlooked, or self-conscious because they have no way to communicate with others offline or online without translation from someone else here. They would like to learn to speak for themselves more often (as far as I can understand). We are experimenting with ways to allow them to speak to friends online, but offline communication requires different tactics.
They were not satisfied with technological communication methods (so no iPad AAC), and push-button boards are too limited and irritating to them. We are DIYing it based on what we can glean from their communication to the rest of us.
Specifically, we have ordered an A6 ring binder in their favorite colors, along with business card holder inserts for the binder and colored tabs to organize it. We intend to put communication cards in the inserts. The A6 size should keep it very portable while allowing enough capacity for the words they need. If they ever need more words, then we will expand or rethink, but this should be a good start to see what works and what does not.
I know there should be enough overlap between plural Tumblr and AAC Tumblr to get some recommendations, so- if you know or run a blog, website, or other resource that offers free AAC cards (intended for printing), please boost them in the replies or comments. We need cards and ideas for cards. I am sure that we will make some custom cards for our own situation, but having starting points to set up basic communication would be a great help so that they can finally make some friends. They have been lonely without a means of communicating beyond gesture for far too long.
