#aac4all

[thecouncil-aac]

Teehee!!

[thecouncil-aac]

We brought up using AAC to our therapist, and seeking accommodations to be allowed to use it during class as needed

She's not against it, but is prioritizing finding and working on the cause of the speech loss episodes, which...

We think she thinks it's an anxiety thing (which is reasonable), but it's not quite it for us, not entirely, at least

We do have/had selective mutism/vocal shut-downs due to anxiety, but it hasn't really happened since being medicated for the chronic anxiety over a year ago - during these, it feels like we get choked up, words unable to escape us, too frightened to speak

The speech loss episodes we've been having "recently" aren't induced by anxiety, we feel calm yet unable to speak, not choked up, but as if our voice box just... stops working. Unlike the anxiety induced ones, we can't make sounds. Sometimes we're fully mentally present, other times we feel like our thoughts are all scrambled - disconnected but not dissociative

When we struggle to speak because of dissociation, it feels like our voice is floaty, wispy - there but hard to control, drifting in and out

[thecouncil-aac]

It's gonna take time to add all the necessary buttons and words, but it'll be so pretty when it's done <3

(It'll be the dusk plural pride flag)