✿ My pronouns are She/Mae (because I love being referred to as mainly my name)
✿ I am semiverbal and an AAC user
✿ I mainly use high tech AAC though I do have customized Kuromi based communication cards
✿ I use AAC most times (I am still unlearning reliance on forced speech)
✿ I am autistic Level 2/MSN (Medium Support Needs), ADHD, have OCD, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and c-PTSD
✿ I am asexual and agender, (on the alloromantic spectrum, complex feelings and thoughts with what is understood as romantic attraction. I also tend to be very repulsed by and averse to what is deemed as romance)
✿ Currently I am in the process of having my loaned AAC device become officially and permanently mine (with the help of my speech therapist)
✿ My special interests: Tarot, visual art (especially abstract art), AAC, autism, trees, my asexuality, Sephiroth (FFVII)
✿ My passions: Creating visual art (especially abstract), poetry, creative writing
✿ My tags:
#maes aac — pictures of my AAC, videos of me using and speaking with AAC, practicing with AAC
#maes aac user — (no pictures or videos) posts about being an AAC user and using AAC; my experiences, feelings, thoughts
#maes semiverbal — posts about me being semiverbal; my experiences, feelings, thoughts
✿ My post: "My extensive list about what being semiverbal/semi-speaking is like for me"
✿ My mainblog: for art, poetry, autism, disability, and being faekin: @wombofthevoid
I think my normal state is a lot less verbal than I thought. AAC feel better and a lot a lot more comfortable than speak and feel weird speak when I have use AAC because it feel very much more mine voice.
etiquette / tips for interacting with someone who is using aac ( from some one who uses aac ) .
not an exhaustive list . feel free to add on . /gen
do not try to read what they are saying before they say it . ( personally , some one watching my words as I type them or find buttons on my aac is stressful . I feel like I am being rushed . )
similarly , do not guess what they are saying before they are done saying it . ( so , do not " finish my sentences for me " . you are interrupting me speaking , when you do this . )
do not play music or loud noise when some one is using an aac app / device that needs to be heard . ( it feels the same as speaking over , interrupting , or ignoring . )
do not take an aac from some one . ( aac is our voice . taking our aac is like holding your hand over our mouths . )
if some one uses mouth words with you , do not expect constant oral speech from them in the future . ( not all people who use aac are nonspeaking / nonverbal . some people have access to oral speech occasionally . this does not make their use of aac any less needed or valid . )
similarly , please do not have a dramatic reaction , if hearing some one speak for the 1st time . ( more specifically with situational mutism , to some people , the fear of how other people will react to you speaking in front of them for the first time can make it more difficult to speak . giving an unwanted big reaction will only enforce that fear , making oral speech even harder in the future . )
do not treat use of aac like it is an inconvenience to you . ( do not complain about having to wait a bit for a response . do not say that you prefer when some one can use oral speech . )
do not ignore aac users or leave us out of conversations .
do not make fun of aac's voice , how aac pronounces words , how fast / slow the aac reads , or any typos that were made . ( it is the same as bullying some one for their voice or for mis pronouncing a word , when using oral speech . use of aac does not mean lack of voice . or lack of mis pronunciation / mistakes . )
[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!
Hi S4AAC! Since requests are open, could you make an AAC user symbol? My only specification is I'd like if it doesn't have the colour blue in it but that's it 🐾
AAC user
part-time AAC user
full-time AAC user
love being AAC user
hoping the (very little) dark blue-ish purple isn't a problem
I have several boards I use to specifically talk about pain with my AAC. There are some things I would change. There are many parts I think are valuable. Under the cut are the pages with full image descriptions and explanations.
These are all from a former grid size which does not support my vision access needs at this point in time. Because the grid size did not meet my vision access needs most of the buttons are double sized.
Main/Hub Page
ID: A page on TD Snap with teal, blue, and green buttons. In the upper left corner are the buttons The pain feels, Constantly, Intermittently. The majority of the page is a type of pain with a description of the pain sensation beneath it. They are as follows:
Aching, steady and might get worse when I move. Burning, like pins and needles, sharp, and prickling. Cramping, sudden, unexpected tightness in a muscle. Crunchy, like painful crackling or popping. Numb, like the muscle isn't there, or has no sensation.
Sore, like a very dull ache. Tingling, like the body part has fallen asleep, but it still hurts, or like TV static. Pinching, like sharp, acute tightness. Pulsing, like it ebbs and flows, like a heartbeat. Radiating, like it is reaching out to other parts of my body around it. Sharp, acute and sudden in a specific spot, not as intense as stabbing pain.
Shooting, like a line of pain along the body part. Stabbing, sharp, specific, like someone stabbing the body part. Like I am weak, like it is making my body part weaker or more difficult to move.
In teal are the phrases I don't want to say, I can't remember, I don't know. Along the bottom of the page are links to the pages Pain Scale, Pain Size, Pain Duration, and Pain Timeline. End ID.
This is the main page. This is for what is usually a very important part of communicating pain, at least for me and in my experience. I have a hard time telling pain apart. Doctors often want to know what the pain feels like and I have found that describing it is more effective than just saying "shooting," "burning," stuff like that. All pain symbols are off of AACIL by the way.
As a note I usually try to make sure I have a way to say I don't want to say, I don't know, and/or I can't remember. When I use my AAC in emergencies I am very vulnerable. I cannot move at all. I need to be able to quickly communicate these ideas because silence is usually not taken as one of those ideas and I risk having my AAC taken away or moved.
From this page it gets broader (pain scale) or more specific (size, duration, timeline).
Pain Size
ID: A page on TD Snap with white, yellow, orange, red, and pink buttons. The first button is a sentence stem and the other buttons describe sizes which gradually increase, and ends with several sentences.
In order, the buttons read The pain is the size of, pinprick, coin, some of body part, whole body part, several body parts, whole body, the pain is everywhere, random, I don't want to say, I don't know where the pain is, I can't remember. End ID.
This is to describe the size of the pain. What I would change is have it go to the body parts page for some of these. Or to add a body parts folder to the main page. Even just to add some body parts to this page.
Pain Duration
ID: A page on TD Snap with gray and green buttons. The top row describes frequency day to day, while the row below it describes how long onset takes.
In order, the buttons read The pain happens, all the time, daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, suddenly, regularly, rarely, randomly. End ID.
Important to communicate how often the pain is. Normal/usual pain is a different emergency from sudden and new pain, or infrequent sudden pain. When I adapt this for my better grid size I will also make sure that I add a "never happened before" button.
Pain Timeline
ID: A page on TD snap for describing how long a pain has lasted. The buttons are yellow for within a day, orange for words within a month, red for words within a year, and blue for other timelines.
In order, the buttons read The pain has lasted, just started, an hour, a day, a couple of days, a week, a couple of weeks, a month, a couple of months, a year, years, episodic, constant but sometimes better and sometimes worse. End ID.
Again I would add a "never before" button. But otherwise solid page I think.
Pain Scale
ID: A screenshot of a page in TD Snap. The columns move from light blue to dark red, left to right, with increasing pain severity. The first row has faces for a pain scale, going from a smiling face to an upset face.
The second row has numbers 1 through 10 left to right. The third row has descriptions of pain going No pain, minimal pain, mild pain, uncomfortable pain, moderate pain, distracting pain, distressing pain, unmanageable pain, intense pain, severe pain, and ending on unable to move.
The fourth and final row has functional descriptions which read, from least to greatest and left to right, I have no pain, My pain is hardly noticeable, Low level of pain I am only aware of pain when I pay attention to it, My pain bothers me but I can ignore it most of the time, I am constantly aware of my pain but I can continue most activities, I think about my pain most of the time I can't do some activities I need to because of the pain, I think about my pain all the time I give up many activities because of my pain, I am in pain all the time it keeps me from doing most activities, My pain is so severe it's hard to think of anything else Talking and listening are difficult, My pain is all I can think about I can barely talk or move from the pain, and the last most extreme box reads I can't move from my pain I need someone to take me to the emergency room for it. End ID.
A good one. One of the pages I use often to speak to myself and to doctors, and I usually find myself quoting it when I am verbally communicating with doctors outside of emergencies. Feeling pain and registering it is difficult for many people for many reasons. I really recommend a page like this.
If you have any questions feel free to ask them. Also feel free to copy these pages if they suit your needs, change them, redo them, whatever. I am just happy if I can help others communicate about their pain easier.
What I wish people understood about being semiverbal is that any kind of communication is hard. It's not just that I can't speak out loud. Half of the time I can't communicate period.
really seriously sick and tired of people complaining about "ai voice" like you guys know computer generated and speech synthesis voices are how a lot of nonverbal disabled people communicate right? like that's just how we sound. "tiktok ai voice" is how real people sound when they talk in everyday life. like literally that specific one, whichever one you're complaining about, is the specific voice a large number of real disabled people use to talk. complaining about it or barring people who communicate that way from participating in creative projects because it's "ai" or hanging up the phone on people with "ai voice" is literally just plain ableism
i do also think people who have a problem with "ai voices" should look up old school computer generated speech and play a section of text with it, and then imagine trying to communicate everything you say forever like that. it is not understandable. if you are nonverbal and you want to be understood with a speech generating device you have to use speech synthesis voices and they are a massive improvement in the quality of life for nonverbal disabled people. computers being able to replicate human speech is a good thing. it is needed for people who cannot speak, and it is needed for people who cannot see a computer screen. it is necessary tech. it just is.
[ID: userboxes with black on white text, and their respective flag placed at the far left.
in order, they say "this user is semiverbal," "this user is nonverbal," "this user is nonverbal" (alt flag), "this user is semiverbal," "this user is verbalflux," "this user is hyperverbal," and "this user is AAC-punk!" /end ID]
[ID: more userboxes, with the AAC user flag! in order, they say "this user needs AAC to communicate," "this user uses AAC to communicate," "this user uses AAC for speech loss episodes," and "this user uses AAC for verbal shutdowns." /end ID]
[ID: blank versions of the previous userboxes. in order, they're the semiverbal, nonverbal, demiverbal, verbal flux, AAC punk, nonverbal (alt), AAC user, and hyperverbal flags /end ID]
flag credits!!!
★- diagonal verbal flags
★- four striped nonverbal flag (post by @/your-fave-is-nonverbal)
This morning, I used my AAC Device in front of strangers for the first time. It was difficult and scary and I found some challenges which will take time to overcome with it.
However, I’m incredibly proud of myself for not just harmfully forcing myself to speak when already overloaded and scared. It makes things worse when I do so, so I took the time and listened to my body.
Luckily, I was met with compassion and understanding and I’m thankful for that. It meant I got through safely. 💕
This will be my first blog post specifically about communication, and I have chosen to write about something that has bothered me for quite
From Lance McLemore (@loudlampman on IG), an autistic AAC user with severe apraxia.
Excerpt:
"Speech impairment exists on a spectrum like blindness or deafness. There are many reasons why a person could have significantly impaired speech: autism, cerebral palsy, stroke, traumatic brain injury, ALS, Rett syndrome, etc. I’ll use myself as an example. My speech is impaired due to severe apraxia. I understand everything that is said to me. I know what I want to say, but it’s very difficult to make the muscles involved with speech do as I wish. As a result, sounds come out distorted, some sounds are substituted for others, some sounds or words are dropped entirely, and suffice it to say, it’s a big mess to most listeners. I like to compare my speech to the electrical system in a house. Imagine that an electrician wired your house with wire that was a smaller gauge than necessary. If too great a power demand was placed on that circuit, it would overheat and cause the breaker to turn off. This connection between my brain and mouth is fragile. I might be able to say a two to three-word sentence, but anything longer gets less and less intelligible. And I have to exert ever more energy to keep talking. After some time passes, my speech completely breaks down, most of my energy is gone, I can’t really concentrate on anything, and then I have to be left alone to recover. I’m sure this sounds peculiar to the average person, and they have trouble relating. For the average person their speech is stable over time, and they cannot understand how speech quality could fluctuate so much.
I’ve tried to explain this to people, but it seems like it usually causes confusion and misunderstanding. I say to them, “I use a communication device because my speech is difficult to understand.” A response I have gotten is something like, “you can go ahead and talk. I’ll be able to understand.” It’s as though they see it as a challenge. I might try to explain the fatigue it causes me, but then I am seen as being too lazy to make the effort to talk. Believe me when I say that a lazy person would not use an AAC device. My remaining speech is not adequate to meet all my communication needs, and I know many other AAC users are in the same position. Please don’t give me and other people like me grief for using a communication device. There is a reason we choose to use AAC. It wouldn’t make sense to use it if we could just say it with our mouths. Communication is difficult enough already, so don’t make it more difficult with your erroneous assumptions. You cannot assume that just because we might talk some of the time that we should be able to talk all the time. Remember that one application of AAC is to augment remaining speech. We shouldn’t have to stress ourselves out and push ourselves to the point of mental and physical exhaustion just so we can use a method of communication that is unclear and unreliable. I’m well aware that an AAC device makes people uncomfortable, and it’s often slow and awkward for the listener. However, we have to use the communication method that works best for us.
In conclusion, I have a few words for other AAC users who might be reading this. You have the right to decide how you communicate. Whether you choose to speak, type, gesture, or a combination of methods, you must do what is best for you. Don’t be ashamed of your communication tools, and don’t let anyone bully you into using something that diminishes your ability to communicate. If you find that speech is useful at times, then use it. And then at other times if AAC is better, then use that. I know it’s easier said than done, and I have to admit I still struggle with it. However, acquiescing to the bullies is worse."
I created a new subreddit for AAC users of all kinds. Part time, full time, low tech, high tech, everyone is welcome! I’ve never made a sub before, and I’m working it out as I go along. I hope to see you all there! It’s called
