#not aac

[aactailmon]

Do any other speech impaired people kinda hate using AAC. Don't get me wrong it's a great tool and I think my boards are cool, but for me personally I find it so clunky and awkward to use that I just opt to not speak most of the time. I'm also constantly getting distracted and forgetting what I want to say in the middle of my sentences, and I loathe the idea of making other people wait for me to finish putting together my sentences.

I've thought about getting a Bluetooth keyboard for my iPad and typing through TD Talk instead, but I also kinda hate Bluetooth accessories because their connections are weak. Makes me wish I could have a tiny laptop for the sole purpose of being an AAC device, is there really nothing like this out there?!

[chrome-barkz-aac]

Hi, may i ask, do you use/have used screen reader? I wanted to ask this because maybe a being who used a screen reader knows if decorations made of symbols and fonts like '✰✮✦✧✱✥, ᨏᨐᨓ 𝒕𝒆𝒙𝒕 ᨓᨐᨏ are screen reader friendly. Thank you!

so for what you sent me, the plain text would be [PT: text. end PT] i think.

per my friends who use screen readers, every program is different so some things may be legible in some programs and glitch out on others.*

however, copy and paste fonts (and gradient fonts) are almost never legible to screen readers. if i was using a screen reader to read this ask, i would not have been able to access it in full.

i am always happy to answer asks, but this was one you could have googled before asking me.

i was able to confirm the answer to your ask in under 10 minutes of checking forums, websites, etc. in truth, i ended up not even needing to leave tumblr [i did anyway and cross referenced a couple sites], bc so many blind and visually impaired bloggers have informational pinned posts about making tumblr more accessible because of how often they are excluded on this website.

generally, there's a lot of readily available information on how to support people with different access needs on the web, written by the people with that experience. also, researching on your own is the necessary first step to supporting others.

if you didn't know that, i'm truly glad i was able to tell you that!

on a more personal note,

if i was your best point of contact for the disabled community, i humbly submit that you need to follow more disabled people.

as always, i am one dog on the internet. i am not google chrome, i am just chrome.

i don't know you anon, and i don't want you to feel ashamed for asking what was clearly a genuine question. i know you meant well, i really do. please don't sell yourself short, though. i believe in you that you have the resourcefulness within yourself to practice researching and forming your own ideas. i promise, you got this.

i will defer to anyone using a screen reader if you have something to add (or change or whatever! i'm all ears) in the comments or reblogs (and the visually impaired and blind community).

i hope something good happens to you today! i mean this response as gently and genuinely as possible.

chrome

ps - here's a link to @/mightyoctopus's pinned post with information on screen reader accessability relevant to tumblr. and, if you're really uncertain whether or not your symbols and fonts are legible to a screen reader, NVDA is free for windows and you can download it yourself to test your own posts.

*obligatory disclaimer that not everyone who uses a screenreader is VI or blind (some people with learning disabilities like dyslexia also use them) but when speaking about how to make things accessible for screen readers, its important that we think about the people who use it as their primary or only interface with which to access the tumblr, and by and large, that is VI/blind bloggers.

[aactailmon]

AAC apps are an unlimited resource, you can't run out of them, so you're not at all taking up resources by choosing to use AAC if you're not nonverbal. If it helps you in some way, use it!

Plus, the more people use AAC, the more people get exposed to AAC usage and the people who use them, the more recognition and awareness they get, the safer and more accepted it becomes for nonverbal people to use them as their main form of communication.

[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!

[meteorshower--aac]

is this blog ten thousand stars by circusP themed?

no, but you were very close! this blog is themed after the song meteor by divela, which is one of my all time favorite vocaloid songs :)

[meteorshower--aac]

hey quick question tumblr wtf is this????

[aactailmon]

Hi everyone. Typing this with the keyboard on my laptop since I don't feel like using Speech Assistant right now. I know it's been a long time since I've really posted anything here, but lots of changes have been happening in my life and will continue to happen for a while. Without getting too deep into things, the people in my life have been making sure to make these changes as smooth as possible to reduce the amount of stress that change causes me. Even with me still being pretty nervous about everything, I know I'm still very lucky to have this support need of mine be met in this way.

Still, all of this happening has made it hard for me to pay attention to learning AAC. Plus, I find that I've been feeling more shame and guilt about using AAC. Even if I know rationally that it's fine for anyone to use, I feel like I'm making other people's lives harder by using it instead of just speaking. I feel like it's bad that I'm being inherently inconvenient whenever I wish to use it. It's hard, and I don't know how to cope with it.

I want to continue to use this blog because I know that AAC and practicing the use of my AAC Is going to be helpful for me in the long-run. It's just hard to get past the feelings of being an inherent inconvenience to others...