#aac for adults

[pixierainbows]

[spectrumgarden]

Reminder that languages have tens of thousands of words if you only count common words, and hundreds of thousands if you count more specific / niche words from fields like jobs, sciences, hobbies, etc. There is no AAC board with tons of folders complex enough to hold all of them. If someone cant manually type in /spell their own additional words they can be severely limited in what they can talk about, even with creative work arounds. Be mindful that many AAC users are limited in their words by their communication method, even if they cognitively understand more words and areas than they can talk about.

[foxgrove-collective]

it's all Fun and Games to neurotypicals until i pull out my AAC and then no one is laughing anymore.

respect people who aren't always going to be able to speak.

respect people who rarely use AAC.

respect people who use AAC 50% of the time.

just because i am able speak sometimes, does not automatically mean i can speak 100% of the time.

[archerjay2019]

I Autistic

Autistic Me

Autism inside me

my blood

my bones

my soul

Autism isn't a coat

I can't take it off

I can't be someone else

Autism is all of me

I rock

I flap

I stim

my ways

My life

My world

Me

Autistic

All of me

Autistic

Proud

Happy

Autistic Me

[rurustims]

being high support needs and going out for the day can be so difficult, in general, going out is very difficult for me even with all my accommodations and such.

what do you all take with you when going out for the day anywhere?

i always have this large "messenger" ( ? ) bag with me!

• drink(s)

• food and snacks

• bank card

• special bus pass card

• schedule for the day written out

• sensory item bag

• headphones

• stuffed animal

• device charger

• AAC device / my tablet

• my phone

• disability lanyard and bracelet

• tissues and baby wipes

• medication

• toys, a manga i like, drawing book

• plasters and nappies

i think this might be it🤔 i dont remember exactly! but i might go out with an old friend on Friday so as i get packed it will help me get to that :D

[bunny-behind-a-keyboard]

MLP communication cards

i know this isn't what i'd typically post here, but i made these for myself for when i struggle with a verbal shutdown because of my ASD or anxiety and thought some other MLP fans may get some use out of them :]

feel free to use/print/etc! just dont take credit if asked i suppose haha. also happy to take requests to make more of them ^^

[the-habitat-ring]

I’m out weeding and I see that my plants are learning to communicate with AAC!

Yes, Nasturtium, you are alive! Good job! 😆

[vixdoez-symbolz]

Disability Aid Symbols

Manual Wheelchair

White Cane

Adult Diaper (open and closed)

[adhddarling]

I HAVE AUTISM, PERCEIVE ME /lh

HI i'm gonna talk about communication and my sensory profile and verbal stims because i'm bored and they're things i experience with my autism.

alternative communication

i used to use BSL to communicate when nonspeaking as a kid but now the people i'm around don't understand BSL i tend to use other ways to communication

gesturing and mouthing words instead of saying them aloud work too

i also like speaking in toki pona (if u haven't heard of it, it's a minimalist constructed language made by linguist sonja lang, made to be easy to learn with simple grammar and help you focus on smaller concepts as it has only 130 words! current hyperfix haha) because it helps me a lot - the words feel easier for me to process and use, and the short words (most are 2-4 letters long) are easy to say and spell out.

verbal stims

my verbal stims change frequently! i often use echolalia to stim, so i repeat phrases that i've heard before. tiktok sounds often plague me in this way lmao.

my current most frequent verbal stims are french words! 'bonjour', 'oui' and 'au revoir' are some of my favourites.

i also like making beeping, buzzing and clicking like a dolphin.

my verbal stims can be voluntary or involuntary

sensory profile for me, it depends on what sense, but i'll do a quick run down:

taste - sensory seeking (i like spice/intense flavours)

food texture - DUDE DON'T GIVE ME ANY SOFT TEXTURES PLS. i like crunchy foods. i don't like inconsistently textured foods, so i avoid fruit and vegetables bc the texture is always different! my safe foods are chicken (my favourite are tenders or nuggets) and bread (i like most types of bread, but prefer the ones with a crunchy outside)

temperature - i don't like hot things generally. i don't like hot drinks or really hot foods. i prefer cooler temperatures in my room and prefer being cold - i can't stand the heat, summer is my nemesis /srs

clothing - i like big jumpers a lot, dresses that are spinny and clothes that don't restrict my movement. things like blazers or jackets stress me out cause i can't move freely.

sight - VISUAL STIMS ONLINE ARE DOPE!!! i love kinetic sand too. i have very visceral reactions to online stimboards lmao. i don't like bright lights - the dark is wayyy better.

sound - generally sound avoidant/adverse, i don't like loud noises, and i wear my ear defenders or earphones at all times bc i can't handle noise, especially in public. i like certain sounds like woodpecker drilling but i have to be in the mood for it. music is an exception to my sound avoidance because i love it omg - i memorise song lyrics really easily, usually from one listen.

touch - depends on my mood tbh. don't touch me w/o permission or i will reflex elbow you in the stomach /lh

[sprinkleofquirk]

Moooooooore bracelets

They will make a fine addition to my collection

[spectrumgarden]

I'm glad my autism therapist understands the way being an AAC user makes people treat me oftentimes. Especially if they know what AAC is, because then it comes with all the additional stereotypes they have of that specifically (person with very limited vocabulary, needs prompting to use the AAC, etc)

I'm never mad at the fact that someone assumed I had ID, less grasp of language than I do, etc, because it's not bad to be these things. What I'm mad at is that they usually never ask, they just assume. That they would treat people who actually are these things like this at well, without attempting to actually figure out their real abilities first. Always just assume.

My autism therapy is at a center specifically for autism therapy, and because a lot of us cant take public transport or drive by themselves in the case of adults, they have dedicated cars & drivers that will pick you up & bring you back as well. Now because my driver only ever saw me with my AAC, he assumed that I struggled with communication to the point of not understanding more "complicated" communication. So when he was 30 minutes late to pick me up once, and I nearly had a meltdown because of that uncertainty and change in plans, he didnt even attempt to explain to me why he was late (too much traffic on the way, etc), or tell me that hes sorry. My therapist had to explain to him later that he should be doing that regardless, but that I also in fact do understand that.

Its people at the sheltered workshop who Do Not Know my communication abilities because they're seeing me for the first time, giving me thumbs up or talking in very cheerful voices praising me for using my AAC for answering basic questions. If they find out someone needs positive reinforcement for communication and then they do that it's great! But like. Why keep assuming? Why not just try asking first, communicating "normally" first, and see where that gets you?

[archerjay2019]

Immature

parent call adult ID kid immature

what is mature

we measure intelligence on maturity

maturity is false

i be call immature

when i can't adapt

when i can't understand

when i show symptom of my disability

when i lack language

when world is inaccessible

what are you really saying

immature?

that not the word you mean

yet you still use it

to treat like a child

to not give respect

immature is not

good descriptive

find better way

to say what mean

and treat me

like my age

[rurustims]

hii there ! you can call me ruru or toffuu, i am plural however generally no other will post on here apart from me, ruru. please read this through for more information about me 🤍

🎐 . about disabilities & disorders of mine

im a high-complex support needs autistic / level 3 autistic with an intelectual disability (low iq). this means i heavily struggle with expressing what i mean correctly and process language differently. also have continued late regression of skills.

i have many disabilities and disorders. please be mindful, respectful and patient with me. Moderate ADHD Combined type, Mild visual impairment, learning disabilities, on the shizophrenic spectrum and mentally ill.

hypermobile enhlers danlers syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic joint pain, unexplained momentary paralysis of the legs, medically suspected arthritis.

semiverbal with speech impairment, late met speech milestone. generally part time aac device user.

mildly hard of hearing and future wheelchair user.

🎐 . about my identity & who i am

im an intersex nonbinary transgirl, im also transfemneu and transxenofem and cistrans. i use a lot of xenogenders and am a pansexual lesbian.

i use shi/hir, kid/kidself, pie/pieself, mew/mewself pronouns for the most part, if you struggle with abstract pronouns, you may just use my name or it/itself.

🎐 . what will be on this account?

me rambling and silly posting, talking about my interests as well as my disabilities and my day.

continue below for further information on my beliefs and interests as well as tags.

🎐 . what are my stances / beliefs on things?

i support all types of queer folk and their identities and what they are, no matter if contradictory or not.

i support all plural folk no matter of origin or what labels they use, i wont exclude anyone or try to go at them because of how they believe their brain is wired.

i support educated and informed self diagnosis, however, intelectual disability is not self diagnosable.

lastly dont involve me in any discourse, may that be queer discourse, system discourse or ship discourse, i dont care and it's odd.

the misinformation and ignorance a lot of folk put onto the topic of the puzzle piece symbolism on autism is often ableist and should be worked on in the lower needs autism community.

🎐 . what i like, interests and so on!

special interests of mine

my little pony, specifically generation four or generation three merchandise. its been my special interest for about ten years now.

i have also had a special interest in autism for about seven years now.

and a game called adopt me on roblox has been a special interest of mine for five years now!

hyperfixations of mine which i have or which come back

breaking bad, shameless us, the amazing world of gumball, tokio hotel, cookie run kingdom, heartbreak high, isopods, snails, future man, avatar the last airbender and way more.

hobbies which i have right now

watching cartoons or east asian dramas

collecting toys, rocks, notebooks, stickers, manga, sensory items, stuffed animals and more

🎐 . the tags i might use in my posts

#rurusharing : just a general type of tag of mine, might use this when im just sharing about my day or something which happened.

#rururant : not particularly venting, but could be, it'll be sharing of some sort related to negativity.

#ruruspinterest : this is me talking about my special interests in any way!

rurufixates : mentioning of hyperfixations

[ottosbigtop]

Can I ask you of um. Bobby ? I'm pretty sure you have in your aac au that he sort of lives/lived with Loboto and coach Oleander so umm. how do you think he felt or still feels about the whole brain stealing situation that happened at camp ? did he forgive them for that ? I think about that a lot and how it must've affected him. even if he doesn't talk about it or tries not to think about it. especially when it's also in a situation where he's the kid Loboto mentioned..

the brain stealing situation is definitely a Bad Look. Especially so because the events of pn1 are the first time Bobby’s seen Loboto outside of pictures. Ever. It’s actually the thing that prompts Loboto to come back for him, which is nice for Loboto! But it’s Bobby’s very first interaction with his dad, which really doesn’t. Bode well for their dynamic.

he absolutely pulls it out as a gotcha anytime Loboto wants to try and tell him what to do and I think it’s very effective bc Loboto doesn’t want to try to think through that and just goes “haha okay fair! Anyways!”

I have many thoughts about the Loboto and Bobby family dynamic. It is fraught with issues that stem from Loboto trying to be a dad without really knowing how or trying to learn, and Bobby just having to ride out those consequences. Not being able to apologize to his kid about kidnapping him and stealing his brain is one puzzle piece to his larger issues of avoidance.

[crippy-tangerine]

Not being able to describe/identify/communicate our emotions “normally” makes our therapy/medical check-ins so hard… And just. Frustrating, really.?

For a start!! “How are you doing this week?” feels impossible to answer. Like… It does not feel socially acceptable to respond with: “I feel like I am watching myself bury the sun beneath the dirt in third person- and as each handful of soil slowly extinguishes its light, my chest caves inwards and my blood seeps out of my pores and mixes with the earth. And my hands won’t stop patting down the blood-soaked earth over the star that I’ve just killed.”..???? Like yeah, don’t think that’s a good answer to give, especially when the person asking doesn’t actually care.?? But like… We don’t know how to translate the feelings we have into quick, one-word answers. Or even just a “normal” sentence. We just sound so damn emo when we write stuff (/lighthearted). And we need days/weeks/months (or sometimes years!!) to work out how we feel about a situation and how we want to respond to it. Which means our (lack of) response is not appropriate…

Emotions feel like music, so to then have people expect us to communicate them all with a single word.??? It’s not doable for us. Let alone when the response is wanted in a matter of seconds. So we end up saying “I don’t know” 95% of the time (because we don’t know!!) and we don’t communicate anything at all. The other 5% of the time we just guess and say something like “depressed” or “sad” or “anxious”. Because we don’t know any better words to describe the feeling of your world ending by your own hand.???

It’s extra difficult because we need AAC & simple signs/gestures to communicate anything. So we don’t even say “I don’t know”- we either have to put that into our phone, or just shrug.?? Interactions with us in-person are very one-sided (which often isn’t handled well by anyone involved). We don’t do well with conversations. As you can probably tell.!! Thanks, autism…. (/sarcasm).

TLDR: having a “nonverbal-autism-problems” moment!! This emo autistic struggles to not be emo & autistic- and fails!!! WOMP WOMPPPP.

(We don’t want “advice” on communicating “better”, we are already at peak performance for us. Unsolicited advice is NOT a slay!!!)

[zebulontheplanet]

Being a Autistic Adult

Being an autistic adult is hard. If I go on media then I see other autistic adults my age able to work, have a stable income, live alone, have kids, have a relationship, etc.

I’m not saying I won’t ever be able to do any of these things, I’m saying I’m not doing them right now, which makes me angry sometimes. I’m almost 20 and feel angry for what I can’t do, and for what I may never be able to do. I will probably never live alone, I will probably never be able to work a full time job, I will probably never have kids (not that I wanted any). Because of my support needs at this time, I can’t do a lot of things and it angers me. I mourn for something that I know I’m not capable of.

I know my worth isn’t based off these things, I’m not saying it is. However, autistic people are allowed to mourn and be angry about the things they can’t do. They’re allowed to be angry about the things they want but can’t do.