image description: ten slides with a light blue background, rainbows, clouds and stars. text reads:
a note on "going nonverbal"
nonverbal refers to a permanent state of not talking. it means months, years, decades of no talking.
not being able to talk for a few minutes to hours at a time is not nonverbal. i don't want anyone to feel dismissed by saying this. not being able to talk is distressing. it is frustrating and scary. if not being able to talk for short periods is distressing, imagine how nonverbal people feel 24/7.
to quote one of my favorite movies "you keep using that word. i do not think it means what you think it means," the princess bride (1987).
when nonverbal people try to talk about their experiences, it is flooded with people talking about 'going nonverbal'. our voices get drowned out in our own community. it feels incredibly isolating and makes it really hard for us to be listened to or even find others who are nonverbal.
also, we have been saying this for YEARS. but every time we bring it up, y'all act like this is a new concept. that just tells me you have not meaningfully interacted with the nonverbal community, or the MSN/HSN community. it is not new, y'all just don't listen.
what to say instead of "going nonverbal". speech loss / losing speech / speech loss episode. vocal rest. verbal shutdown / vocal shutdown. words are offline. verbal loss. PS - vocal rest is GREAT if you don't want to mention why you can't speak, or have to mask. musicians say they are on vocal rest all the time to protect their voice before performing.
"But Chrome! that doesn't sound as serious as "going nonverbal!" people won't take you seriously either way, sorry. i have had periods of my life where i can talk sometimes and periods where i can't ever. they aren't going to take you seriously if you use our language because they don't take you seriously at all. because of the ableism.
"my therapist / SLP / doctor says 'going nonverbal, though -" that doesn't mean it's ok. professionals don't always listen to the people they are attempting to serve. they should, but they don't. because of the ableism. and racism, sexism, etc.
the autism community already has a problem with driving out higher support needs autistics, nonverbal autistics and especially autistic people of Color. you can be part of the solution. you can support marginalized autistic voices and make your community safer and more inclusive. but first you have to listen.
thank you for listening. i hope something good happens to you today!
