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Nonverbal - Blog Posts
Little Lucifer Info:
Age Range: 0-3 Years old
Caregiver: Alastor (Calls him Lu when verbal, which sounds like: "Wu!")
Babysitter: Charlie
Autistic: Mostly nonverbal when regressed, gets easily overwhelmed by his surroundings, and has a hard time letting his caregiver know when he needs or wants something
Hyperfixated on anything to do with ducks!
Milk extremely upsets his tummy and can cause severe meltdowns if the pain persists longer than a few minutes
Now he usually gets watered down apple juice(Happy hands or wiggles are to be expected whenever this happens)
Stranger Danger x1,000(Very clingy baby, but only to Alastor and on very rare occasions Charlie)
Dislikes loud or overly bright toys
Toys he can pull behind himself are his favorite
Likes to chew on his duck shaped crinkle fabric plush
Night terrors are the one thing that can cause him to immediately drop into a baby headspace for an unknown amount of time
Has a tiny bladder, but is too anxious to let his caregiver know he needs a change. (Unfortunately resulting in several painful rashes and the occasional UTI)
you ever go nonverbal but like... online? too fatigued to reblog anything with tags or interact with people
Just had two crying meltdowns and three nonverbal episodes in one day :D. Autism is lovely, school is clearly wonderful for my mental health, and the only things mentally holding me together on a day-to-day basis are the promise that my friends will still be there in the morning, and also my weighted blanket. Life is wonderful and I am doing great! Promise!
I feel like half my body needs to be soaked in ice while the other half covered in heating pads…just the issues of chronic pain ⋋_⋌
Am I ill?
Sometimes I start to wonder if I really am chronically ill. Do I really wake up every day with pain or am I just faking it all the time? I know other people actually have these issues and they are very much real, but to me, I don't know what is real for myself anymore. I try so hard to be normal, yet the pain comes back. It always will come back. I wake in the mornings with a killing pain surging through my jaw. I know that last night I must have been fighting monsters, swinging swords that allow me to defeat these dragons lingering in the mountains. Yet, today as I wake up the pain isn't from a dragon or those monsters I fought, it's from my trying to dislocate once more. The throbbing pain in my head isn't from being flung against the wall of a dragon's den, that pain is from my chronic migraines that linger in me causing it almost impossible to eat and hold my food down. That surging sensation that spirals in my belly, drifting up towards my heart and seeping through my veins isn't the poison of my enemy trying to defeat me at last, this is the anxiety that causes me to isolate myself until everything is fine again. The anxiety that holds me back from chasing these wild imaginations because I'm not okay. I don't think I ever will be okay, but am I really ill?
I actually used my AAC in public today for the first time. I know this might not sound like much to some people, but when I have speaking issues and end up nonverbal or having a verbal communication issue (I don’t know what to call it without people getting mad at me) I normally just stop talking all together and isolate myself. This AAC really helped me so much today and I don’t feel so drained physically and mentally from work. I’m really happy so now I don’t have to go home and sleep the rest of my afternoon away, I can play a game or read!!
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Also, I don’t know what you’d call it that I have. I was nonverbal for well over 7 years and have on and off verbal issues where I can talk some days but most days I’m completely silent. Recently I’m having an episode that’s seeming to last about 4 days.
Ah, the few people I've had to block for telling me it's not ableist to use the term "non-verbal" and that I'm alienating allies.
Nearly the entire non-verbal/non-speaking community is asking it not to be used by reliably speaking Autistics.
Do some not mind? I'm sure! But this is a majority thing.
That is greater than any preference. And if you block me or are alienated by me for pushing the voices and wants of a part of the community that is generally ignored?
Then you're just giving me the reason to push their voices louder.
Hi, I'm sorry if you aren't the best person to ask but i cant find anyone else but is it ablest of me to avoid verbally communicating even if I have the ability?
Like I can talk, and it's not particularly hard for me usually, but I feel more comfortable not doing it usually, especially during the times it does hurt. I'm autistic but I don't know if that's the reason why, and I worry it's inconsiderate to not do it by choice since some people don't have one.
Sorry again
It isn't ableist. I've said it before and I will say it again, everyone deserves a comfortable way to communicate. And for you, if using a way other than oral speech is more comfortable, do that!
You deserve to be comfortable, and if that means using AAC, sign, etc. to communicate even though you are speaking. Do it. Somebody who reblogged one of my posts said this, and I think it applies:
"Its called an aid for a reason. You don't NEED a jacket, but winter will be a lot easier if you have one.".
Also, the more people who use AAC the more normalized and available it'll become!
Also, even Ghoulia's texts were in "zombie", which isn't actually a great representation of non-verbal people.
The non-verbal people I knew, keeping in mind they were nowhere near as intelligent as Ghoulia, were still able to type and write.
G1 Ghoulia didn't have that. It sucks that there's no non-verbal representation, but g1 Ghoulia wasn't a great representation.
And the creators acknowledge that. So they changed it. Because they want to do a non-verbal character authentically.
One of the show runners even stated that this was the reason.
And, I still believe Ghoulia does represent some kind of disability.
In "Growing Ghoulia" she talks about how difficult it is for zombies to earn points at monster high because they're not as fast as other monsters.
That sounds familiar...
In "Flaunt Your Skeleton" we learn that Ghoulia has anxiety tics and, in "Dawn of the Dread" her anxiety manifests as a monster.
So, Ghoulia might not be non-verbal anymore, but she's still a good representation of disability.
People can be upset that she's no longer non-verbal, but she's still a great character.
And here's hoping that, when they include a non-verbal character, we love them as much as we love g1 Ghoulia.
Alright, time to share some thoughts. This is going to be about Monster High g3, specifically Ghoulia.
Now, I understand why people are upset that she can talk in this generation as there's now no representation for nonverbal characters, but I do love that they veered away stereotypical zombies that are super slow and can only communicate with grunts & other noises that aren't recognizable as words. But, more importantly, she wasn't intended to be representative of nonverbal people.
Now, I'm not saying that nonverbal shouldn't relate to her, that's not something anyone has control over. What I'm saying is this: the writers for the new generation likely decided to give her the ability to speak so that they could explore her character more, and so that when they eventually do add a nonverbal character, they can be sure to do it right & consult with nonverbal people about their lived experiences.
For example: when the live-action movie came out, I related to Frankie's struggles with social situations, but the creators said they're not autistic. (And my twin explained that Frankie's only 2 weeks old & it's hard to diagnose autism before 3 years). I was a little heartbroken, as they were the only character I sort of related to. Note: were.
And then g3 Twyla made her debut, and then had an episode about growing up, and it was like someone put my lived experience on the screen. I felt so seen & understood, as did many autistic fans of the show.
So, while I understand that the current lack of nonverbal representation is frustrating, I'm sure(ly hoping) that they will make a nonverbal character, and that they're just making sure they can make them accurate and not written as a harmful stereotype.
Here’s a video of me from this morning when I went nonverbal, I’m using ASL (American sign language) to the best of my ability to talk about why you should learn sign. It’s a great tool for nonverbal, neurodivergent, HOH, deaf, and other individuals to communicate. If you can decipher what I’m saying congrats, I know it’s not super neat or grammatically correct, I’m still learning.
(NV stands for nonverbal)
Stop writing your nonverbal characters as “quiet”!!!!
Obviously if there is a bigger character reason for their quietness, not an issue
But if your sole reason for them being such is that they don’t speak please reconsider why you think that way!
Most of us who don’t use verbal communication as a main form communication (or are more comfortable being nonverbal) are not quiet! If anything we are the loudest people you’ll know!
It’s all about balance! If you have a character who doesn’t speak, evaluate the way they interact with their world!
Do they use sign language? Are there other people in their life who know sign language, and are able to engage with them?
Do they use a audio device like an aac?
If they had to get the attention of one person across the room in a noisy space, how would they do it?
Like every character you write, they should be 3d!! Just because they have something unconventional in their livelihood, does not negate this fact!
Nonverbal communication of a semiverbal human:
Thanks: asl open-palmed gesture, mouth to other hand (or a nod with a closed eye smile)
Help: wide intense eye contact and emphatic gesturing. Rigid movements
Happy: silly facial expressions, The Fangirl Gesture, wiggly squidward arms, relaxed posture
Anxious: repetitive cyclical motions in hands, arms, face, and feet. Pinched mouth, tension, squishing self into small space, rocking on balls of feet, tapping teeth together, shaking out hands
Sad: slow movement, quiet, rubbing hands or arms or neck. Zoned out, sighing
Anger: rubbing palms with thumbs aggressively, clenched jaw, avoidance, scratching forearms or legs, tugging on own hair, furrowed brows, no eye contact at all, hiding, leaving
Care abt u: buying things u spoke of, pebbling, talking to you often as manageable, sitting with you doing nothing, sitting with you when choice seating, bonking head into your shoulder/ upper arm, smiling at u upon eye contact when first seeing, looking into things u spoke of, trying to figure out how to resolve your problems, inviting you to adventure, showing you creations, sharing special interest
Need comfort/support: Sudden head/shoulder leaning into your shoulder or back, standing slightly to the side and behind you, dramatic groan and flop onto a surface, shoving self into small space or burying self in smth heavy
Don’t Like/ uncomfy w/ You: avoid you, only act cold/professional with you, intense eye contact, only ever American Stranger Smiles at you, doesn’t perpetuate conversation
Sound effects of a semiverbal and what I do them for:
For fun:
-hnarglebarg
-heedlyhoodly
-sneepsnop
-weyll flip my flapjacks!
-keskeh keskeh keskeseh
-binglebongledingledongleswingleswongle fo-fingle-fo-fongle
-kekekekekkekeekkekeke
Calling someones attention to something or to my presence:
-heehoo
-eh!
-hm!
-ezqueedly me
Expression of discomfort:
-mmmMMMM 😡
-*big sigh of chest hurts from anxiety*
-*narrating everything I’m doing with lots of “um” and “ok, uh,” etc*
-*musical fake laughter*
-I contain multitudes
-what’s your favorite day of the month?
Sounds of “I want something from you” usually accompanied by gestures:
-M!
-N!
-Eh!
-*name of person said dramatically*
Notes: I am not a child I just struggle with word finding and formulating my thoughts, especially when I’m struggling with my senses.
Most of the people I spend a significant amount of time with start using some of my stims and odd forms of communication. I often don’t need to do anything other than hum the correct intonation of a phrase to get my point across.
If you don’t know why I would say random things when stressed, its a combo of when I was figuring out (and making fun of) small talk combined with “I need something to leave my body and rn it’s gonna be words”
Thanks for answering!!
We haven't fully looked at the video yet but we wanted to respond a bit to the side note thing (also maybe the tags?).
Yeah google is very good for things, lol. We just mainly sent the ask cause we saw that you had said that you wanted some asks sent, lol.
We had some ASL classes (read: was in ASL 1 two times cause we aren't good with school and that includes college, lol). We would love to take more classes for ASL but we have a lot of difficulties with school and stuff so that seems like it might not happen.
While we might not be deaf (although we do have difficulties with hearing, lol), the reason we love ASL and learning it is that we have verbal shutdowns (others tend to refer to this kind of thing as "going nonverbal" but that's not really correct). So while ASL might not be our language or culture, to us it is more than just a "fun fact". [This was just us explaining, we aren't upset with you saying the thing about it being a fun fact].
Once again, thanks for answering our ask!
- Shay 🐾
Hello! We saw your "speak your language day" post.
We know a bit of ASL ourselves but would definitely love to learn more!
Do you know how to sign things like "plural" (as in the plurality community), "alterhuman", "nonhuman", and just stuff like that? We would love to learn if there are signs for some of our communities even though there probably isn't, lol.
If there aren't any signs for those, we would just love to learn different signs for (nonhuman) animals! Especially canines (wolves, dogs, jackals, etc.) and felines (cats, tigers, cheetahs, etc.)
- Shay 🐾
English:
I’m still a student so I’m not an ASL authority, remember that. But, for plural I would maybe sign like [listing things], or… depends on how many you feel, like [list 2] [list 3] [list 4] [list 5] personalities, or self, [multiple self]. Maybe, depends. For- I’ve seen human signed with the H handshape like [body] becomes [human] like [person] becomes [human]. So maybe with other signs added before, like [not human] or [other human]. Or [not human] [other human]. Like that. There’s not a lot of signs for specific identities like that. But for other animal signs, the sign for animal is [animal]. I don’t know a lot… like, I know dog, I know cat, but specific types…. Like, a lot is describing what it looks like. I don’t know if tiger sign exists already, it probably does, I would try signing it by explaining what it looks like. Like, orange cat, large with black stripes down it, like that. Yeah. I hope that helps. Bye!
(Side note: Not signed just adding something. If you’re curious about a sign, google is your friend. Lots of signs can be found online and signs can vary depending on the region. Some signs in the state I’m from are very different from signs elsewhere. Look online and if trying to communicate with deaf people in your area keep in mind that many signs can be localized! Just cause I sign something one way doesn’t mean a deaf person from your state is wrong for signing it another. Far from it! Understand the culture of your area, understand deaf culture, and remember, for you it may be a fun fact, for them it’s their language. Be aware and have fun signing!)
on tumblr lot more people know about it which great! that improve life of all AAC users. but pretty much with anything disability/developmental disability space on social media (which need certain amount of cognitive/intellectual & language abilities be on even if have support), good majority you see be teen & adult people who already literate learn language via speech n write *first* n then *independently* learn AAC base on it *later*.
especially symbol based AAC, but all AAC, is new system n hard n take long time learn even when you literate & not moderately severely cognitively disabled. but also, “literate teen/adult independent learn AAC” not at all full face of AAC user community.
as in like. experience of theirs. not universal. independently motivated & able to look up different AAC options different AAC apps, compare n contrast. download app n immediately know how to use, or able figure out by self. first time use app n may be clunky n slow, but make sentence on first try. need learn AAC, but most of that learning is for where words are (if button based), how exist as AAC user in public with confidence, etc. those all valid but not true for everyone who need AAC, especially not developmentally disabled children (& some adults) with complex communication needs.
most developmentally disabled children (n some adults) w complex communication needs who need AAC, can’t just hand them tablet with symbol based AAC app or text to speech AAC app n then wait for magic. many of them developmentally delayed in way, not taught in way that fit them (e.g. gestalt language processors), n their language abilities behind peers, so they can’t read, can’t spell, can’t grammar, etc.
some of them need learn where word is not by read word, sometimes not even by understand symbol, by other people press button n hear sound n associate that with meaning n location on AAC n symbol associate with it. in other words, they learning language alongside AAC.
for some their learn process look like, learn how use AAC say one word. n then much later, try make two word message, “want food” “go school.” “two word message” incredibly common goal for many these developmentally disabled children, teens, n even adults, that is something rare n truly extraordinary for that person that need be celebrated.
for others it look like learn by phrase (gestalt), then slowly break it down into smaller phrase n chunks n finally single words.
many of them babble (click random/seemingly random buttons on high tech device, stim with it, etc). but ultimately, won’t be able learn all by self. need be taught, see you accidentally spill water n crying, maybe you “feel” “sad”, n when that happen you “need” “help” from adult. need learn AAC by adults around them constantly model with it, constantly use it in conversation, show them how use. because they learning language along side it.
but also some of them don’t know what this thing in front of them (AAC… device, low tech boards or picture cards, etc) is. don’t know what communication is or you should do that. don’t know people exist who you should communicate to & with. heard many parents n SLP say they try model all time, try all kind of stuff, but child just not seem interested in it, don’t look at it, don’t touch it, don’t use it.
people who use AAC, not all them struggle with only speech. some them struggle with language, with intellectual/cognitive. some of them very developmentally delayed.
n some people, too disabled learn or use AAC. yeah, they exist.
for people who cannot use / cannot only use speech to be understood, AAC can be life changing. but is so much more complex thing. AAC still not as widely used n accepted n properly taught n supported as should, some parents n professionals n schools still many pushback n refuse. but sometimes answer to “have you tried AAC for them” is “yes, but they need long time n lots help to learn n we not very far yet even though spent long time on it” or “yes, but they simply not show interest even after constant model” or “god, wish can, but insurance only cover if show some amount of communication competence n ability use AAC, while only give 1 month trial, which simply not enough time” (wide spread thing that happen) or “yes. many types. it not work.”
for many AAC users & AAC user-to-be, it not as simple as “be handed AAC n check back in while they figure out by self”
not be able communicate by words means… constantly be misunderstood. misinterpreted. not have any way show own perspective, your side of story. your story always written talked about interpreted read thru other people.
someone did something wrong you. someone hurt you. someone say wrong thing…
someone make up malicious thing about you. maybe that you rude ungrateful bad temper behavior problem. it now become truth it now become you because there no way you correct them.
you can’t educate them. you can’t explain it to them. nevermind that, for example, you severely disabled n having symptoms that impact quality of life, or have symptoms that dare inconvenience people - can only watch as people around you speak “for” you not with your interest in mind but of their own selfishness - that people who can communicate by word say you only do that because you lazy, you selfish, want attention, on purpose, just want to for no reason, faking, inherent personality flaw.
not just big things. more often it those small things that build up every day, happen tens n hundreds of times each day, every day, every week, every month, every year… more often it those small things that add up that break you.
imagine everything bad, incorrect, & bad and incorrect thing said about you in your life. n now imagine you not able defend yourself, explain yourself, or even say those wrong not true.
n any attempt of yours to maybe protest, not enough, people not understand, or downright not listened to, made fun of. at first you shake head make noise meaning no all calm. after while of it not work you get frustrate n it start showing. you get impatient n snappy, why none of you understand, is any of you even trying. but people around you with privilege of able communicate n defend self thus never have experience of not have that, find it such basic of skill that they no longer see it as acquired skill but instead see as innate, born in, natural, cannot imagine person not have it just like can’t imagine living person not breathing—they only see their perspective n only see their interaction n not the many, hundreds n thousands, of previous communication where no one understood you (or even tried to). so they mock you (sometimes they the one who on purpose provoke you to see your reaction like you monkey in cage for their entertainment), geez big reaction why can’t you be patient. n you get label, impatient, rude, explosive, anger issues.
you protest in only way you can without words. you do it by sounds n noises n movement. you raise voice you scream you smash thing around you you hit yourself in frustration you hit other people who don’t understand you because you frustrated at their incompetence n how much they failing you. because. show me another way person can communicate without words. show me way that one can continue do after tens n thousands of misinterpretations n miscommunications n malicious interactions.
you communicate in only way you can with only emotion you can feel at this point: anger, frustration, helpless. be misunderstood, even smallest innocent one become trauma become trigger. miscommunication alone can set it off, make you see red n see billion of previous miscommunication where everyone failed you n left you to fend for self. then the backhanded jab that sometimes follow, that make thing exponentially worse.
you communicate in only way you can with only emotion left you can feel that consume you. loud sounds, screaming, get physical. it not earn you be understood. it only earn you this: be called impatient, irrational, explosive, land mine, rude, ungrateful, annoying…
“behavior issues.”
and that’s another misinterpretation of you you can’t defend yourself against. cycle repeats.
n other verbal people only listen to other verbal people. so these descriptions of you become “your truths”.
n the true you left there. to rot.
a lot people with no functional communication (either because no ability, or because circumstances) labeled as have behavior issues. yeah, no fucking shit. try it for a while. anyone would “have behavioral issues” in these circumstances.
no one seem to care. so okay fuck yeah am difficult kid, have behavioral issues, make your life miserable. yeah am terrible person, have internet personality flaw of no fault but my own. except now do it on purpose, make it true now, put ability to control own truth in own hand. because you all seem want me be that so bad. so now you get it. don’t complain now, you all asked for it really really nicely.
but deep down. at most basic. hidden beneath. really just. want be understood. want be helped. want people to learn my communication.
“many behavior is communication” yes, those kind of behaviors should be respected n valued n listened, but try behavior your way out of correcting n explaining everything just said in post to person who just don’t seem to get it
without rely on good grace of nice people around you who keep on play guess games n give out guesses in words you can nod or shake head to. now, that’s cheating.
people not nice to people who *have no choice* but to *only* rely on behaviors & vocal noises to communicate
n, even if every single person nice. behaviors n vocal noises alone, not enough.
this written with full time experience in mind
I want people to understand this.
Nonverbal and nonspeaking people are capable of going into higher education, and many have.
Does this mean every nonspeaking and nonverbal person will go into higher education? No. Lots of nonspeaking and nonverbal people are not able to go into higher education for various of reasons. This however does not mean that every nonspeaking and nonverbal person is unable to go into higher education.
College is something that a lot of people want, including nonspeaking/nonverbal people. If you’re able to, then go for it! If you want to, then go for it!
Nonspeaking/nonverbal people have been kept out of higher education for a very long time, and to see blog posts and articles about nonspeaking/nonverbal people going into higher education, it just makes my heart happy, because I’m not alone. Stop underestimating nonverbal/nonspeaking people. Stop saying we can’t do things. Some of us can’t, and that’s completely ok, but we need to start making it more possible for nonspeaking/nonverbal people to achieve their goals and dreams.
"Nonverbal people are communicating, they can use AAC devices!!! The only reason a nonverbal person can't communicate functionally is because the people around them are not trying hard enough!!!"
(Sometimes this statement in some situations is true, but I am talking about when it is not true)
Have you tried using symbol based AAC? Do you know what any AAC apps are called? Do you know there is different types of AAC? Have you even actually looked at the home page of a high tech AAC device?
For someone without impaired communication, I think it would probably take about 1-2 months if not more to fully learn their way around a high tech AAC page set.
Now imagine an illiterate person, a person who has severe fine motor delays, a person who does not understand what people are trying to get them to do when given an AAC device, a person who doesn't understand any language at all, a person who doesn't understand what AAC is or even the concept of communication in the first place, a person with little interest in communication.
Can you imagine that person, handed an AAC device? Do you seriously think they will suddenly starts expressing their thoughts in great detail?
Have you ever talked to someone who used to fit the criteria of being profoundly autistic or someone who's profoundly autistic caregiver? Have you listened to how many hours of therapy a week they have for their communication? Sometimes five hours a week and sometimes even more. Do you know that? Do you know how hard some peoples caregivers try? How much they wish their child could be able to communicate functionally?
How much money they spend on AAC apps? Do you even know how much an AAC device costs? A SGD? Thousands.
Stop calling caregivers lazy when they say their child can't functionally communicate their needs. You have no idea how hard they are trying.
Where are all the "slow" kids, the challenged kids, the burnouts from birth, the burden to have in class? Where are the autists who can't mask, who self harm, who are loud and can't stop stimming? The NDs with processing disorders, brain damage, brain fog? The ones with down syndrome, FAS, and other conditions that people treat like curses or defects. I hardly ever see them past 18 and I know they don't just dissolve once they become adults.
Saw a post and it really got me thinking.
The post was talking about why don’t lower support needs, higher masking individuals even believe that higher support needs, low masking, “severely autistic” people, exist. And that got me really thinking. Because, I do think they know we exist. I just don’t think they want too.
I don’t think they want to know we exist. They know we exist, but keep us on the back burner. They live in ignorance bliss of us. I have what some people would think of as severe autism. Im nonverbal (although nonverbal later in life. But outside people don’t care about that. They see nonverbal as nonverbal), I’m intellectually disabled, need help in everyday life, etc. but I’m in the middle. I’m moderate support needs. To me, I’m not severely autistic. But to society, I am considered and seen as severely autistic because society doesn’t have the understanding of moderate autism yet. They don’t understand it. And I’ve seen more times than I can count that severe autism doesn’t exist. Not because they don’t believe in severe autism the label itself because it’s “harmful” but because they don’t believe that it’s just caused by autism. They often believe that’s it’s caused by comorbidities. Like ID, or cerebral palsy, or apraxia/dyspraxia, or mobility issues, or genetic conditions, and so on. Although none of this is bad.
They believe that autism itself can’t create severe autism. Which…isn’t true. Before, it was believed that severe autism was the only type of autism. That it was the only type that existed and if you weren’t severely autistic then you weren’t autistic. Then more research happened, then social media happened, and now..white, lower support needs, high masking, late diagnosed individuals are the majority of what’s being centered. And, that isn’t bad. We need awareness of all autism. But when one type of autism gets centered, it becomes a problem. It becomes the new norm. It becomes what everyone expects out of autism now. Which, isn’t true. Autism all of all types and traits exists. Autism of all support needs exists.
When people say severe autism doesn’t exist, they’re ignoring and saying that a BIG percentage of autistic people don’t exist. They’re saying that we aren’t real. That we aren’t on the internet, or in the communities they live in, or in their schools, or whatever. We’re everywhere. Severe autism is still a thing. It isn’t a misdiagnosis. It isn’t from comorbities, although if someone’s autism is more severe from comorbidities then that isn’t bad.
I think a lot of people need to be more aware of severe autism. And not just severe autism like me or my mutuals, or the people you see here on tumblr. But the ones with even MORE severe autism. The ones who live in group homes, residentials, institutions, and so on. The ones who aren’t on the internet. The ones who aren’t here blogging about their lives. We need to be aware of them too. We need to believe they exist, and believe that their autism is real.
Don’t erase severe or profound autism.
wish for smart autism people to STOP saying things like "most autism people actually smart ! ". is not true! is just so erase big part of autism community ! of people like Pixie, and intellectual disability autism people !
STOP say , is not okay ! people like Pixie, people with intellectual disability , are BIG part of autism community ! we deserve be part of own community !
STOP try push out of community, is ableism !
Talking about a discourse that doesn't even exist on Tumblr
On Tumblr, us higher support needs nonverbal/nonspeaking people often had 2 possible scenarios to deal with:
1. People ignore us and our opinion because our writing isn't "proper" English, and they make fun of us or comment on our writing style.
2. People think we're faking because our writing is good.
I couldn't care less about scenario number 2. And luckily I'm not affected by scenario number 1.
But what happens now is that somebody tries to discuss a Twitter discourse that simply doesn't exist here on Tumblr: Nonverbal/nonspeaking people with severe or profound autism and/or severe or profound intellectual disability who use FC to run their blogs.
This isn't happening.
Nobody on here (except maybe 1 person, but even there I'm not sure) has profound autism. Severe yes, there are some. But we don't use FC to run our blogs. Nobody on here (except maybe 1 person) has a profound ID. Severe yeah, maybe. But most people with ID are mild or moderate. And none of them use FC to run their blog.
So what happens now is scenario number 3:
3. People (or rather 1 online troll) think that what we write is facilitated and not our own words.
Especially those of us who have severe autism and/or ID. This is worse than scenario number 1 or 2. Especially because there's no way to disprove it. The better our grammar, the higher the probability that somebody else wrote our posts; at least to this online troll.
So whenever you encounter someone who says that what we write is facilitated and/or written by someone else: Don't believe them. Yes, sometimes people write something for us, but we can always check if we agree with what's been written.
I've heard of the FC problem where caregivers wrote something for the nonverbal/nonspeaking person, and it always was about how great FC was, etc. I think this was on Twitter and on individual blogs somewhere on the internet. But this isn't happening on Tumblr. Nobody with severe autism and/or severe or profound ID uses FC to run their blog on Tumblr.
It's basically "Yelling into the void".
Edit:
Since this post reached people who aren't aware of what was going on lately:
FC is short for Facilitated Communication. It's a method for people who can't speak and struggle greatly with other communication methods, such as writing, signing, or using an AAC device.
There's nothing wrong with people helping someone to run their blog; I, too, sometimes need help to run my blog. There's also nothing wrong with people writing posts or messages for someone. This post was only to inform others that nobody on Tumblr uses FC full time to run their blog. Because this is what this troll believes. She basically complains about something that's not the case.
For all my fellow ADHD and soft voice-havers when we get interrupted/can't say anything constantly
