Alex (he/they)

like, would you rather: show up to christmas with no presents for anyone or show up having not showered for a week?

would you rather: feed yourself or do the dishes?

[PT: A guide to making AAC symbols, for emoji artists. End PT]

Making symbols for AAC is not as easy as adding the AAC symbols tag to one of your normal emojis. Here are some things to keep in mind when creating AAC symbols.

AAC symbols should be representative, not abstract. [PT: AAc symbols should be representative, not abstract.]

An AAC symbol is usually used by an AAC user to distinguish the button they want from the other buttons on the page. Most AAC users scan in some form, and many look for the symbols and not the button's label, meaning that an AAC symbol should in some way be a visual symbol for the concept. This means that wordmojis do not typically work as AAC symbols.

2. The symbols are typically seen only by the user and not who they are speaking with. [PT: The symbols are typically seen only by the user and not who they are speaking with.]

In a Discord emoji, both the person communicating and who they are communicating with see the emoji. With high-tech AAC, typically only the AAC user sees the symbol, with the people they're talking with audibly hearing the words instead. There are some exceptions, such as light tech AAC or situations where an AAC user is showing their screen to who they are talking with, but they are generally exceptions.

3. Avoid low contrast. [PT: Avoid low contrast.]

An AAC symbol on a button is generally very small, and it is usually one of many buttons on a page, and it is usually on a coloured backdrop. Furthermore, there are many AAC users who are blind or low vision. Having high contrast on your symbols, such as by making the lineart much darker than the filling, makes your symbol easier to see and makes the details easier to notice.

4. High levels of detail usually disappear on an AAC board. [PT: High levels of detail usually disappear on an AAC board.]

Because buttons are small and there are usually many buttons on a page, high levels of detail tend to be very hard to notice when a symbol is on a button. Furthermore, lots of detail can make a symbol visually busy and thus potentially overwhelming for an AAC user.

5. Many AAC users dislike words on their symbols. [PT: Many AAC users dislike words on their symbols.]

Most AAC users have words on the button label already. For some, this means that having words on the symbol as well is redundant, overwhelming, or annoying. If you put words on your symbols, it is best to also provide a version without words for those who prefer that.

DISCLAIMER! I don't rely on AAC devices for communication, I'm approaching this from my perspective as a design student

1 Avoid making the meaning of your symbols dependent on their color

This makes them less accessible for colorblind people. For example, for things like boy vs girl instead of pink and blue I usually use the Venus and Mars symbols.

2 Make sure the symbol is readable at a small size.

Avoid making any critical elements of the symbol very small. Also make sure that if you have lots of details they don't make it difficult to understand the symbol when you zoom out. It can help to reduce the color contrast on these less important details.

3 Think about different ways of representing each symbol you make

I sometimes try out 4 or 5 different concepts for a symbol before choosing which one I want to go with. In this step I like to think about all the ways people use the word I'm representing, and try to capture as many of those meanings as possible.

4 Clarity is king!

In my opinion you should never sacrifice clarity for anything else when making AAC symbols. The order of goals I use when making my symbols is this:

[ 1 Clear to understand -> 2 As universal as possible -> 3 Fits with my style -> 4 Nice to look at ]

5 Avoid ambiguity

This can be difficult, especially with core words, but make an effort to reduce the amount of meanings a symbol can have. Don't worry about this so much that you add a bunch of extra elements, but keep it in mind.

Unless you’re nonspeaking/nonverbal, then you don’t get it. Yes, even if you’re a part time AAC user. Yes, even if you’re an occasional AAC user. Yes, even if you use AAC the majority of the time but are verbal or demiverbal or semiverbal.

You don’t get it. You don’t get what it’s like to rely completely on a device. On other people. You don’t get the fear, the anxiety, the loneliness, the pain. You don’t get the ableism we face. Or the fact that we can’t experience certain connections.

You don’t get that I can’t say thank you and therefore get weird looks. You don’t get that I can’t say please, or sorry, or anything like that. You won’t get what it’s like to have to make your parent your medical proxy because you can’t make doctors appointments yourself, so therefore they know everything about your medical history. You have no privacy. You don’t get what it’s like.

You don’t get the fear of seeing your devices battery slowly die because you’ve been using it but you still have hours left of class or you are out in public and know you need something to communicate but your device will inevitably die on you.

You don’t get what it’s like to go into the AAC community and see part time users be risen up and supported, then for full time users to be ignored and and told our experiences are so different that they shouldn’t even be talked about in these spaces because it leaves people out.

You don’t get what it’s like to be beyond frustrated with other AAC users because although they’re apart of our community, they’re forcing themselves into our conversations as full time nonverbal/nonspeaking users. You don’t get that frustration. The want to scream.

You don’t get what it’s like to see people push themselves into your community for only their self gain. For their own selfishness. For the sake of saying “I’m an AAC user too!!!! I can say these things!!” When no…I’m not talking about you. I’m not talking about part time AAC users.

I feel like people don’t realize that yes, AAC users are a minority themselves, and a marginalized community, but full time users, they’re a marginalized community and a minority within the very community that they fucking built.

Part time AAC users, occasional AAC users, people who are not nonspeaking/nonverbal, it’s time to start realizing your own privilege within the community. It’s time to start letting us talk too. It’s time to stop forcing your way into our conversations. It’s time to listen to us.

I promise you it wont feel peaceful when you need to call an ambulance

when your in a situation with police

when there's a fire, when you need help, when you are stuck,

when you need to call literally anyone to do basic life things

when you need to answer the door

when you need to buy something from a shop

when you need to have a conversation

when you need to get a job

when you need to participate in school

when you need to do basic life things that involve speech but that never crosses your mind because you have the privilege of speech

Stop saying you wish you could be nonverbal, you dont know what you are wishing for

even when it like. most ridiculous wild thing conservative say, for example. when we genuine ask what it mean please not respond with “oh it just some ridiculous stuff don’t worry abt it”

that not help. that leave us out of information.

you able read it, understand it, n then make up own decision about it. we struggle with first thing, so we ask for help, but by respond that way you take away our chance do the next two things.

i got a cane at first because i thought my issues were "mild" and therefore i needed a "mild" mobility aid. but canes are moreso for stability than support. i damaged my wrist and worsened my scoliosis by deciding to use a cane without an educated opinion.

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