Frequently occurring scenario in 4 steps:
a nonverbal/nonspeaking autistic who struggles to express themself in "proper English" talks about an issue within the autistic community
-> almost no likes, no reblogs
I write about the same thing later; good wording and clear structure
-> many likes, lots of reblogs, people commenting "Oh, that's so important to know, thank you!"
Honestly....... It may be confusing at first, but once you know the pattern it's actually pretty easy to understand ungrammatical sentences on AAC.
You know that many autistics struggle with "I" and pronouns, right? Assume they'll simply drop it and refer to themselves in third person (their name).
Many AAC devices make punctuation difficult. There will be a period after a word because the device just . does . this . thing . here. And often no commas because that's complicated too.
Maybe "I am", "This is", "There is" or "It's" are difficult to find - assume it's "is", or sometimes "I am" is just "Am".
Future and past tense can be difficult too. The context helps here.
"Is not [name] . Say. Is . Say . Green." - "That's not what I said. I said it's green."
Plus, sometimes words are hard to find so it's easier to describe them.
"Red water" or "waterfall eyes" could be easier/faster to find and write than "blood" or "I am crying/sad", depending on the device or the language skills.
And if you really don't understand something because the preposition is unclear and you don't know if the thing in question is in the bathroom, in front of the bathroom, on the sink, under the sink, etc..... Just ask for clarification.
Once you know what words are important for the meaning of the sentence, it's not that hard. Don't ignore those of us who struggle with expressive language just because you're used to "proper" English.
yes yes yes ! take long time write things in AAC , and also one more " unique " problem : similar buttons . in speech english right now and soon easy tell apart from each other , but here how look in duckie AAC :
words not relate to each other can be accidentally switch because buttons look similar or very close together , and take extra work understand if not know how person set up AAC . ( duckie layout for example is all custom )
not use very much verb tense because have hard time even figure out which one right unless feel like spend even longer to write , and even have brain energy for that . which not always do .
especially when brain overwhelm , meltdown or frustrate or seizure , even AAC words become very simple and repetitive .
do have ability type in extra words , words that not have in AAC , but that can also really frustrate and take time because need think about if this new word make sense . so sometimes say same easy words lots , rather than say more complicate words , even if know those words .
and for every time say not to comment on how write , always just feel like more people do comment . like people congratulate self for tolerate or find fucking cute , when really say very important things .
[image description: two very similar aac buttons. both buttons depict a stick figure smiling while looking at their watch on their wrist. in the first image, they are pointing at the watch. in the second, they are a little larger and not pointing at the watch. end image description.]
