What you need to know for AAC awareness month
By Kate Norrish
Staff Writer
One of my autistic traits is that I am semi-verbal. That means I can talk sometimes, but not others. While I can talk most of the time, when I can’t, things can get odd. Usually, people don’t know what to do.
Like autism itself, verbality exists on a spectrum. Some people think it just means a person can only say a few words at a time. Those people are called low-verbal, and are also on the semi-verbal spectrum.
However, the word was also created to mean people who can talk well sometimes. Some people may not be able to speak for days or weeks. Some people cannot speak only once in a while. I can’t speak for a few hours a week, up to a few days a week total.
Sometimes I can’t talk when I’m sad, upset, tired, calm, or focused. It is hard to predict. Some
semi-verbal people have other speech differences, too. I have a selective stutter and sometimes slur my words.
When I can’t speak, people sometimes treat me like I am younger than I am. One time,
someone congratulated me for eating my vegetables before I got a cookie when I was at a
restaurant, and another, someone said I was doing a good job grocery shopping for myself. I was an independent adult when both of these things happened.
People also sometimes think I am deaf, and use hand motions to talk to me. While I think
some people might find this helpful, it makes it harder for me to understand than if they spoke.
Because of that, I have the words “I can hear,” saved in my AAC.
AAC stands for Augmented and Alternative Communication. While AAC is a word that
means any way to talk other than mouth-words - as the nonverbal community calls it - like
drawing, sign language, and writing on paper, a lot of people use the word to mean an electronic device to help people communicate.
I use an app on my phone to talk. Some people use an app with a lot of buttons, each with a different word. I prefer to type each word out. It makes me feel as if I have more freedom to say what I want. I use the app “Talk to Speak.”
Sadly, not all ways of talking differently work. Facilitated communication is when another person holds a letter board or a person’s hand as they spell out letters. This leads to “The Ouija Board Effect,” where a person influences what the semi- or nonverbal person is saying without knowing it.
A lot of studies, such as one by ASHA, have shown that people who use facilitated communication do not understand the words they tend to use with facilitated
communication.
The term that I use for when I can’t talk is “nonspeaking period.” Some people use the
term “verbal shutdown.” I do not say “verbal shutdown” because I like not talking sometimes,
and it does not feel like a “shutdown” to me, but I do not think there is anything wrong with the term “verbal shutdown.”
Some people call their nonspeaking periods “going nonverbal.” I used to, but I was told
by nonverbal people, who can’t speak at all, that when a semi-verbal person says they are
nonverbal, it makes it so people might not know what “nonverbal” really means.
While most of the time, I write my Gatepost articles at an eighth grade reading level,
because that is what most newswriters say you should do, I have chosen to write this one in plain text.
Plain text is a way of writing that is meant to be easy for neurodiverse and other disabled
people to understand. I think more people should get used to reading plain text. This is because some disabled people like to be spoken to in this way. They might find it easier to understand.
Keep in mind, this is my first time writing an article with plain text. I may not be good at it yet.
The United Nations says communication is a human right. Everyone should have the
right to learn to communicate in a way that feels good to them. Some people might not like
mouth-speaking, even if they can do it.
All kinds of AAC is something everyone is allowed to use, whether it be sign language, electronic AAC, or letter boards they can use on their own.
Everyone is able to advocate for themself in some way. Even babies cry when they need something.
Some people haven’t found AAC that works for them yet. They might say that they
don’t like something by walking away, for example.
In a perfect world, everyone would be able to talk with words, but we still need to listen to those who can’t.
To me personally, being semi-verbal can be annoying, but it is also nice. It is a serene
experience that makes the world feel new.
