Lack of Representation of Speaking AAC Users
I know there hasn't been a lot of representation for non speaking/non verbal AAC users, but i just wanted to share my thoughts on something that has been a personal concern of mine for quite a while already ever since i got my "go-ahead" to use AAC.
Anyway, as the title states, there doesn't seem to be a ton of representation for those of the AAC user community that speak and use AAC as well, either full time, part time, and occassionally in certain situations. Like, there isn't any piece of media that has anyone who uses AAC but can also speak, even for anyone who is semi verbal as well. Now, i'm unsure if i haven't looked hard enough, but this is what i've noticed.
People who use AAC while also able to speak have some online presence, especially on here i find. But i don't see a ton of online speaking/verbal content creators talk about using AAC, and especially nothing from low tech AAC users as well i've come to notice too. But the main focus is on the speaking AAC users in this post, because i'm a speaking/verbal AAC user yet i can't easily find others like me, never mind the people who use the same AAC app as me.
Even on here, i haven't seen a lot of speaking AAC users who ocassionally use AAC for example. I know of some who exist, as i think i have followed the majority of the occassional AAC users community. And i follow a relatively big creator that does talk a little bit about being a part time and occassional AAC user, but i feel as though even their content is just not enough. They don't talk about the hardships with using AAC, their negative experiences with using it in public and even with family though i do understand why they wouldn't. None of this post is me saying that we should spread more awareness of the negative stuff, the negative side, this is just me sharing my thoughts and my observations.
But mind you, i'm only recent to using AAC in any capacity outside of ABA in the first place, so yeah maybe i haven't because i'm just new to this space. I have said before that i am pretty new, even if i have been educating myself and reading up on all things speaking people and AAC use, i still may not get some terms correct. And i could be spreading misinformation within this very post too, and in which case i invite you to politely correct me if i get anything wrong or i leave out some details that you'd want me to include. I would be more than happy to oblige. I just wanted to put this disclaimer here just in case.
But as i have been saying, the only representation that i do remember watching is Out of My Mind, as the main character does use AAC full time. Like i'm grateful for awareness of disability and of AAC in general, but i've yet to watch a media piece that has someone who does use AAC in some capacity, preferably people who use it occassionally and/or part time as i'm not a full time AAC user. I hope again i'm not accidentally offending anyone with incorrect term usage but as always, you're free to politely correct me if i get anything wrong and if i do offend people as well. I guess the same could be said for social media as well.
I think the mainpoint i'm trying to make here is that i feel like we need more part time and occassional AAC user representation, especially in mainstream media and on mainstream social media, more than we already do have if it's already there in some capacity. Like i have barely seen anyone with verbal abilities and also using AAC for a variety of reasons, like for example, because speech is hard for them so they use AAC to keep some energy/spoons after any type of day really.
Because so far, the only representation i see online of AAC use in general, and not very much of part time or occassional AAC use, are people like Asexual Amanita on Instagram, AAC Cabinet (Though i'm not sure if they're full time or part time to be honest), and vixdesl. But that is a small list and plus, i'm not even sure the people on my short list is like a part time or an occassional AAC user too. Excluding me as i only share videos of my page set, only give tours, but not make videos exclusively with AAC or videos exclusively in general too on my Instagram.
And once again, i'm saying that this list needs to expand. But keep in mind, these are just my thoughts and opinions, and that i'm not trying to order/direct people around. You don't have to even share online that you use AAC at all, really, you do whatever. But honestly this feels like a wishlist for me if anything, than a trying to spread awareness and to induce a trend post like some of my previous posts have been on various accounts, including my instagram one. Anyway, i'm saying this because i think that an increased content creator community of part time and occasional AAC users can help us find community, and especially each other more efficiently.
If you think about the wider autism community on the internet, they have done some good things, if only for just a select group of people which is of course problematic, but you can't ignore that the work that they have put in doesn't pay off all of the time that they attempt to improve stuff. I'm not saying that the entire autism community is good or bad, but they have obviously worked things out for the better of almost all autistics. This is just the best example that i could use, but that doesn't mean i support some of the more controversial things that have been a debate for quite some time already, stuff like self diagnosis for example but anyway i'm going on another thread now for later.
I'm just thinking that if we can band together, not forced though of course, we can educate others about people who speak but also use AAC. So that more people won't feel the need to tell us that we don't need AAC because we're talking and/or we're not using it full time like the full time AAC users are, and no bad feelings towards them but i just feel like those with verbal abilities and also AAC get left behind and out especially by people who don't know the things that we do when it comes to AAC use. That's the main thing that i dislike and that i want to end forever. But obviously, i would prefer it if we weren't divided like the autism community currently seems to be, and i definitely would prefer it if we at the very least tried to challenge the most famous mythes surround AAC as well.
Those are some of the personally important things that i wanted to highlight in this post, a couple of problems with how things currently are and some proposed solutions of mine to said problems.