as someone who doesn’t use AAC I’m kinda curious why some people prefer to type using AAC over a keyboard/use AAC and a keyboard interchangeably? Sorry if this is an odd question
this is a great question actually! (chrome answer an ask concisely challenge level impossible)
((before i answer it though, i would like to add that 'AAC' does not just mean symbol based, high tech AAC devices. - although it is a very common kind of AAC, there ARE text based AAC apps like proloquo4text, and AAC as a category includes low tech options, including handwritten notes, spelling, and low tech options like gestures, noises, and pointing. its actually a very common linguistic phenomenom for a definition to narrow in someone's mind, and i totally understand what you mean! i just think its worth repeating)) (+ i promise these links are not rick rolls this time)
ok , now for the actual answer. obviously i cannot speak for everyone, right, because there ARE some people who do prefer keyboard or text based AAC to symbol based. ill explain why i do it first, and then provide alternative reasons that someone else might do it, and if any symbol based users want to jump in in the comments / rb's PLEASE do! im just one dog on the internet and not the only one who uses AAC.
this actually highlights the second word of AAC really well! augmentative - like to add something, right. so we are adding multiple ways for someone to communicate and we can change that based on context or the environment that suits it!
there are 2 reasons that i prefer symbol based for most of my interaction:
transportability: there is no tactile keyboard that is tough enough for my purposes. i used to rarely use my laptop as an AAC device (sometimes still do when coughdrop glitches on ios) but it is super fragile, and big, and hard to carry around, meanwhile my ipad has a chunky ass EVA foam case, a shoulder strap, and a screen protector. this is imperative bc disability aids are functionally a part of the user's body, even if AAC is not a mobility aid. that meaning, i am not graceful. spirit (my AAC) hits as many walls and floors as i do trust. if emily (my beloved laptop) was in the same position, she would be dead.
accessibility: A) typing on a tiny screen keyboard (either on my phone or ipad) for long durations makes my hands hurt and i misspell a lot of things because the keyboard is too small for the brain-body disconnect that goes with being autistic. (schizo-spectrum stuff also affects this for me)
B) it is easier for me to remember where 1000s of individual words are located on my device (see the next embedded link for more info on that) than it is to remember the spelling of those individual words. especially when im in active psychosis (i dont just use my AAC for autism reasons!) it is easier to remember words as images or concepts rather than strings of letters.
why i switch between them:
if im writing something long on my computer with a lot of specific vocabulary that i dont usually use in day to day, like a post or image description, i will use a keyboard. but in conversation, the amount i say is wayyyy less. like this ask is probably a few hundred words, but in a back and forth conversation, i might only say like 20 words at a time at most, so symbol based makes more sense there. ive actually timed myself and my typing speed is the same on my symbol based AAC as it is on my keyboard, so it really is not a question of efficiency for me specifically.
why other people do it: (NOT EXHAUSTIVE!!!)
they learned to use AAC before they could read so they relied on the colors, symbols, and location of the buttons (motor plans)
they can't read at all! and that's ok! (or they can read a little bit, but not enough to rely on text based AAC, or reading is just hard for them and pictures make it easier) (reasons for this could be, learning disabilities that affect language, intellectual disabilities, etc.)
they are physically disabled and spelling takes longer than symbol based (some physically disabled AAC users prefer spelling but im basing this example on one of my buddies (@dustyaacsymbols) who uses switch controlled, symbol based AAC during hemiplegic migraines)
dusty also pointed this one out, but if you're using a head tracking/ eye gaze technology, it is hell of a lot faster to just hit one button for one word than type it out. (dusty's e.g. was, if you have to slowly move your head or eyes to t, then h, then e, instead of just one button 'the', that timing is going to add up FAST. obvs speed communication doesnt change its worth, but the faster you can communicate, the easier it is)
very niche example, but some symbol based AACs (im thinking of touch chat rn but others might do it too?) have preset buttons to command voice operated tech around the house! like e.g. there is a board on touchchat for commanding alexa, and each button has a pre-built phrase within it, like "hey alexa" and "turn on a timer" "stop music" stuff like that.
anyway, i hope that at least shed some light on why people use symbol based! sorry this couldn't be more concise lolz.
i hope something good happens to you today!
