AAC is for everyone!

A AAC sideblog for anyone wanting to learn about AAC or for AAC users to discuss their experiences! [Icon Description: A button pin with a flower on it saying "Love who you are". /End Icon Description] [Banner Description: A screenshot of a Proloquo2Go homepage. /End Banner Description]

[isuggestaac]

[ID: A userbox in the style of TD Snap's motor plan board with the text "This user communicates using TD Snap AAC". /End ID] [ID: A userbox in the style of Proloquo2Go's board with the text "This user communicates using Proloquo2Go AAC". /End ID]

(Userboxes can be found here (link).)

Hello! I am Soma. I am owner of this blog! I am under 18, I use he pronoun or no pronoun. Main blog is @cattledogcoded

This blog is run by a nonverbal being who uses AAC full time. I believe AAC is for everyone, and that all people deserve to communicate.

This blog is made to help anyone and everyone learn about AAC, and as such has zero DNI. However, I still block bad people to keep the blog safe.

In addition to this, I also have a few rules under the cut to make this blog as accessible as possible.

(From here on, this post is written without help of AAC.)

Rule 1: Provide image descriptions when possible. If not ask someone to help or if you send something with no image description I will either add My own or not post it. Same goes for video/audio descriptions.

Rule 2: Similar to above, write in plaintext or provide a translation if not in plaintext. I will provide plaintext if not originally provided.

Rule 3: No bigotry. This is supposed to be a safe space for AAC users, and being a bigot makes this blog a harmful spot.

Rule 4: Do not use harmful language here such as "go nonverbal". On this blog, verbal (/speaking) states are considered as always. As an alternative, use terms like verbal shutdown instead!

Rule 5: No criticism of people's AAC is allowed here. AAC is used to communicate, and communication is for everybody, even if we do not like or agree with them.

[ID: A screenshot of an AAC app saying "Let's use AAC together!". /End ID]

[isuggestaac]

Personal opinion:

Similar to how there is not one size fits all situations with mobility aids, I do not think there is one form of AAC that will fit every situation for most people.

I use two AAC apps on two separate devices to communicate, depending on My needs that day. I also do not use purely high tech, I also use low tech and no tech AAC, again depending on needs.

Lots of people think if you give someone an AAC tablet it can used be always. But that is simply not true! You cannot use a tablet in water, for example.

I think many AAC users should be open to more options instead of sticking to one single form of AAC. You might find it helpful!

[isuggestaac]

Working on AAC can be really fun when TD Snap isn't crashing every three minutes

[freddysaac]

reasons of why I ❤️ my AAC machine :

I love my machine because it doesn't sound as scary as my voice (I have tone issues that make me sound "scary" to others, by making me sound blunt, messy & expressing the wrong feelings almost always)

I love my machine because it lets me express my words in a way that matches my brain words more accurately (I have expressive aphasia & when I talk it's always hard to say what I'm really thinking; this is unreliable speech for me)

I love my machine because it helps me organising my thoughts (disorganized thinking due to my schizophrenia affects me everyday, and having a little world to use as my second brain is really helpful)

I love my machine because I can play silly sounds with it (have soundboard where have lots of silly & fun sounds to play when I feel like it)

I love my machine because I can decorate it all I want! currently I have the cutest stickers on her, as well as an informative card & a kiwi bird plushie hanging from her

I've had to fight for years to get where I am this day, both to have people believe my speech difficulties & to have a device that suits my needs! keep going AAC users, you're all doing great 👍

[isuggestaac]

[PT: reasons why I ❤️ my AAC machine : /End PT]

[cripplecharacters]

Hello. Is there a list of anything that you want to see more in mute/non-speaking fictional characters? Are there any tropes/stereotypes that i need to be wary of? Thanks!

Hi!

We would love to see:

All sorts of AAC methods (high tech, low tech, and no tech)

Disabilities other than "functionally abled but magically just can't speak", like cerebral palsy, autism, intellectual disability, language processing disorders, situational mutism, apraxia, etc.

On that note, if your character can't speak because their tongue got cut out, which seems to be the major reason to have a nonspeaking character in fiction, that will affect their quality of life in a lot of ways other than being unable to speak. Commit to actually portraying that, please. Or just pick another reason they don't speak!

Fewer characters who are hearing and use sign language. Not that it never happens, but it makes up the vast majority of sign language representation in fiction and pop culture, despite being a very small percentage of actual signers in real life.

If you want a signing character, please consider making a Deaf character! (Think about how easy it is if you already have a character translating what your signing character is saying: just have them interpret spoken language too. You're now like 3/4 of the way to having solid Deaf representation.)

Nonverbal characters who are physically capable of making noise, like grunting, laughing, squealing, etc. even though they can't actually speak. These sounds can be communicative or non-communicative.

Or using echolalia, accidental mouth words, or other non-communicative speech in the case of autistic or intellectually disabled characters!

Mod Rock and mod Sasza

[rainbow-banana-slug]

already said a bit, but different reasons for nonverbal nonspeaking (if 24/7) & mute! like because physical / anatomical difference, neurological, motor speech, language, cognitive / intellectual, neurodevelopmental, etc! ALS, tracheotomy & not candidate for speech valve, cerebral palsy, craniofacial differences, apraxia & various presentations of nonverbal nonspeaking autism & intellectual disability & rarer developmental conditions, & more! echoing on please no “basically nondisabled except Just Can’t Speak”

nonverbal nonspeaking characters with other nonverbal nonspeaking friends! who nonverbal nonspeaking bc similar disability but similar n different experiences ! different disability (maybe VASTLY different disability) but also with similar experiences!!

AAC learning curve! most people won’t be able pick up any AAC & be instantly fluent in it. this may be possible for people w already good cognitive & language & motor abilities & already literate n using spelling / typing based AAC, but that not majority of AAC users, & especially not if we talk abt symbol based AAC, which person just described will still take a long while to learn to comfortably use & see as own voice. and, plus, lots of disability that cause people to need AAC, often also impact AAC use, like intellectual / cognitive abilities, language abilities, motor abilities, visual, illiterate or learning to read learning language, etc.

wider variety of high tech AAC! text based & symbol based, but also like switches! scanning! eyegaze / eye tracking! head tracking! etc!

characters where cannot communicate independently or AAC not perfect fix! need communication partners, need partner explain what they communicating to others, need them explain things to self, need prompting, need modeling, etc. or cannot make grammatically correct sentences with good social back n forth exchange no matter communication method. or cannot communicate with language at all. or AAC too slow to use n get frustrated n refuse to use, etc.

in general more realistic details of nonverbal nonspeaking experiences! AAC taking time, not being perfectly understood, charging device, other symptoms of disability that also cause nonverbal nonspeaking, etc. like AHA can still communicate with my mouth full take that!!! but alas can’t when hands dirty or full or occupied (if use direct access via fingers) n can only vaguely gesture n noise. or eye gaze AAC struggling under bright sun or low light, etc.

^ & especially nonverbal nonspeaking joy! AAC joy!

& intersectionabilities! like a nonverbal nonspeaking character who come out as trans by change their voice on AAC ;)

accidentally made it half abt AAC, but also: nonverbal nonspeaking experiences beyond AAC!!!!!

- nonverbal (24/7) AAC user

[isuggestaac]

Sorry I've been a little inactive recently, I am annoyingly STILL sick! (But when am I not?) Hopefully I'll be feeling better enough soon to make more posts, I want to make a pride month post soon too!

[supermagick]

I hate how aesthetic-centered it has become the emoji / emote / symbol community here on Tumblr. Everyone seems to be striking for more aesthetically pleasing looking symbols, or having their own style or whatever. I'm not saying this is entirely bad, but this is a community centered around accessibility & giving the people what they need, not making your posts cute with dividers or fonts or making your emojis incredibly low contrast, or more!!!!

you can do these things, I don't care, but it isn't the main focus of the symbol making community & makes your posts hard to read

[isuggestaac]

[PT: I hate how aesthetic-centered it has become the emoji / emote / symbol community here on Tumblr. /End PT]

I'm so glad this isn't just Me

I know some people make emojis specifically for Discord (or other messaging apps) and without AAC in mind and that's perfectly fine

HOWEVER, if you do do that then don't crosstag into AAC symbol tags!!!

I wrote something about this a week or two ago, but I think people forget many Discord emojis aren't compatible / accessible with AAC symbol use

Sometimes they are! And that's great! But a lot of times they just aren't and so crosstagging can cause issues

But that's a little off topic I suppose, on your original topic I agree heavily. Adding fancy images and fonts causes lots of accessibility issues and can make many AAC users feel unwelcome!

[radiomogai]

[ID: a rectangular flag with 7 straight vertical stripes, the outer stripes being thicker than the others and the middle stripe being much thicker. from outer to inner stripes, the colours are purple, light orange, light green, and off-white. across the middle of the flag is a straight horizontal off-white stripe with a black chain running across it, and in the middle of the flag is an off-white square with a rounded black outline. in the square is an icon of a tablet with a purple case, the letters 'AAC' on its screen, and a brown hand pointing to the letters. End ID]

AAC Device Objectbond / AACDeviceobjectbond: a term describing a deep bond/connection to AAC devices/one's AAC device in a way that is important/intrinsic to one's identity, without necessarily involving identifying as or being attracted to it.

Objectbond (link) coined by @swordsxenan, and I used this objectbond flag template (link). Symbol from Freepik (link)

Self-indulgent haha!! AAC beloved

Taglist because we have one now: @obscurian @sugar-sweet-fawnwife @llemonfleur @narcpolar @hopefulwand @spectrral @your-neighbour-coining @enderluna @nimminoms @charichoardfag4 @floraeth @schizo-on-the-fritzo @bloomgender Ask to be added or removed!

[isuggestaac]

[PT: AAC Device Objectbond / AACDeviceobjectbond: /End PT]

[birdofmay]

And I'd like to remind those who say that it's impossible not to have an accent that people who can't speak exist

[birdofmay]

You know what, no, I won't leave this in the tags.

Posts like these are about sensitivity. But if you make a post about sensitivity, please include us as well. Work on YOUR sensitivity too. Don't throw us under the bus.

[isuggestaac]

Something I see asked and discussed about a lot in the AAC (and general neurodivergent) community is, "Wait, what DOES [verbality term] mean?". So, I decided to make a very small & non-exhaustive guide to try and help out! This is just My perspective so some things may not be what you agree with, these are just the most agreed upon definitions.

🌎 🌍 🌏

Altverbal: A catch all term to mean anyone not fully/"normal" verbal. All altverbal terms are long-term/permanent.

Hyperverbal: A term meaning someone who speaks more than the average person. This can be in the form of speaking quicker, louder, and/or more excessively, and some hyperverbal people describe their experience like it is hard to stop speaking.

Fully verbal: The average pretty much, the "normal" range of verbality. There is variation in this, however generally it is what is considered to be most people's verbality level.

Demiverbal: A term to describe verbal levels between fully verbal and semiverbal. Also considered a subterm of semiverbal.

Semiverbal: Someone who has limited speaking ability. Despite what many believe, semiverbal is a MASSIVE range, and has a lot of different presentations.

Minimally verbal: Someone whose verbal ability is between semiverbal and nonverbal. Again, considered a subset of semiverbal.

Nonverbal: Someone who can speak very little, or not at all.

🌎 🌍 🌏

Verbal shutdown: When you lose the ability to speak for a relatively temporary period of time. For most people this is only for a few hours to a few days, but it can be longer.

Mute: Means the same thing as nonverbal, however some people choose to make the distinction of mute being a physical cause and nonverbal being mental. I don't personally find this distinction that important, though.

-verbal and -speaking suffixes: Both mean a long term speaking ability. Which someone prefers is simply up to them but both mean the same thing. Please note that these terms are body exclusive and in the case of alters in plural systems, other suffixes like -vocal and -vox may be used.

🌎 🌍 🌏

That is all! Feel free to shoot Me an ask if you have any questions :^)

[isuggestaac]

Please remember to include AAC users in your advocacy.

And I don't mean standalone AAC advocacy in this -- AAC use advocacy is important but not the point of this post.

Rather, I almost never see AAC users (especially fulltime and/or nonverbal AAC users like Me) included when I see compilations of people talking about their experiences of bigotry, or people shouting out AAC users in their advocacy posts that are otherwise unrelated to AAC.

AAC users are everywhere, and we should be included when you talk about things like autism, neurological disabilities, intellctual disability, and so many other conditions that can require AAC use.

(Not even to mention including otherwise marginalized AAC users in other advocacy like AAC users of colour, queer AAC users, AAC using women, fat AAC users, etc.)

[isuggestaac]

I love your blog! I love how your boards looks :-) have a nice day 🌳

– @supermagick

Thank you Supermagick! 🩷 You have a nice day too!

[isuggestaac]

how tell friend about aac? not sure if want / will do. but. talk friend 2 time today. which is 2 time of 3, in 3 day, that talk to any person. and. really like friend, talk friend. very fun very good. but also very hard. brain ouch. brain ouch when word almost always, and not do a lot of word even anymore. wish there is way other than brain ouch, or quiet and there is. can do aac, show screen, like girlfriend. have talk without ouch. they safe friend. they nd also. they probly understand. they pretty sure want help, want not ouch. but not know how. still anxious, be more different, more need.

Possibly explain that you struggle with mouth speech and AAC makes it easier to talk??

I'm currently sick so I apologize about not getting to this sooner 😭.

If anyone else has any suggestions for them that'd be great! Have a nice day :^)

[isuggestaac]

I think a frustrating thing with some AAC user experiences that isn't talked about enough is needs.

AAC should be based off what your needs are. But that's difficult when your needs are CONSTANTLY! CHANGING!

I always have variations in what type of board I need, colours, how many buttons, etc, but I can only do so much, even with multiple devices!

It's possible this just doesn't happen for many people but it does happen to Me and I want to talk about it!

[isuggestaac]

hello :) idk if you can help but maybe someone reading this can

so am semiverbal and struggle with talking due to shutdowns, social anxiety + vocal tics/tremors affecting vocal chords

also struggle with motor due to tics/tremors and fatigue which affects typing, writing, signing and using most aac

right now use mostly talking since its most acceptable but is not most reliable. use aac apps (weavechat + cboard mostly weavechat) for making posts but don't use irl because am not allowed to in school and idk how to start using it in home

have communication cards in school but only have 4 for "need a break" "am ok" "need to leave classroom" and "am struggling" and am not allowed to use during exams

usually just don't tell people things because is getting worse getting harder

anyone know anything that can help? either communication method that might work or way to introduce aac to people/get allowed to use it in school

for context am in college (use school/college interchangeably but is a college) and live with my parents + siblings if thats helpful. and am doing exams now which need writing and/or speaking to do (i get choice which is easier)

I'm not sure where you are from, but I know in the USA we have 504s/IEPs, which are created for disabled students to have more accessibility in the classroom. From what I am aware, IEPs don't extend to college, but 504s do. If your country has something like that, I'd get in contact with the school to see if they could set one up for you.

As for introducing it, I'd start small if possible, and include an explanation as to why you use it somewhere on your AAC (if it's physical) if you can.

Anyone else who has any ideas can share too! Have a nice day, Biscuit!

[isuggestaac]

can you please share your tdsnap pagesets? It's okay if not!

Hi Anon!

Of course! I don't have a download for them as I'm not fully comfortable sharing them completely yet (Maybe when I finish one of My current ones), but I can share a few pages of My bigger board!

(For this post I put IDs in alt text otherwise the post would be super long. Hope you can understand!)

This is the home page of My bigger board! It's quicker to navigate than My smaller board because it has more buttons, but the extra buttons can also be overwhelming sometimes. If you're wondering, the button down leads to a keyboard!

This is My home page+ folder! It has predictor buttons, inflections, and lots of folders!

And this is My describe folder! My actions folder is organized in a similar way ⭐️

My smaller board is still a big enough work in progress I do not want to show it fully yet. But once I get to a place where I like it I will! 🩷

I hope this helped you Anon! Have a nice day!

[isuggestaac]

Hi friends! I saw someone ask about tips for creating a custom AAC board from scratch, so here are mine!

- Think about its purpose. What do you plan to use it for? Always, or just sometimes? Is it just created for low tech or is it high tech too? Depending on what it's needed for you might want different words more easily accessible,

- Decide grid size based on the following: What you can see, your motor ability, and your overall processing. If you struggle with vision or tapping, a grid with less buttons might be better. If you don't have those issues, more buttons may be better. (But don't forget to not push it!)

- Design it based what you are already used to. For example, I always have My action buttons green because I am most used to them being green. I also always have My buttons organized alphabetically (when applicable) because otherwise it will confuse Me.

- If you are new to AAC, use a few practice boards for a little bit to see what you like. Many apps for high tech AAC have premade boards and there are lots of options for printable AAC boards for low tech, too! Learn what's best for you and go off that.

- For colours, go based off your vision ability. Bright colours personally hurt My eyes so I need more muted colours. Some people need higher contrasting colours, etc.

- Similar goes for symbols! Not all symbols work for everyone. In My case, I struggle to use a new symbol for a word once I am already used to a different symbol. This likely won't be as important to you if you rely more on text for word finding than symbols, but still good to note.

Sometimes though, it may just be easier to edit a pre-existing board than make a new one altogether. I have done that before and it's totally valid to do!

Most importantly though I will say: It will take time to get used to a board. It will probably feel uncomfortable for a little bit and you might want to start over. Those with even the highest communication abilities it will take a few months to get around it easily using it full-time. Though if you use your AAC board part time, are cognitively impaired/disabled (same), are intellectually disabled, have memory issues (same x2), or have any other condition that may affect navigating AAC, it will take longer, sometimes even years. Don't let that discourage you, though!

That's all My tips, hope you find them helpful! Feel free to add more if you have any!