#isuggestaac

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Altverbal: A catch all term to mean anyone not fully/"normal" verbal. All altverbal terms are long-term/permanent.

Hyperverbal: A term meaning someone who speaks more than the average person. This can be in the form of speaking quicker, louder, and/or more excessively, and some hyperverbal people describe their experience like it is hard to stop speaking.

Fully verbal: The average pretty much, the "normal" range of verbality. There is variation in this, however generally it is what is considered to be most people's verbality level.

Demiverbal: A term to describe verbal levels between fully verbal and semiverbal. Also considered a subterm of semiverbal.

Semiverbal: Someone who has limited speaking ability. Despite what many believe, semiverbal is a MASSIVE range, and has a lot of different presentations.

Minimally verbal: Someone whose verbal ability is between semiverbal and nonverbal. Again, considered a subset of semiverbal.

Nonverbal: Someone who can speak very little, or not at all.

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Verbal shutdown: When you lose the ability to speak for a relatively temporary period of time. For most people this is only for a few hours to a few days, but it can be longer.

Mute: Means the same thing as nonverbal, however some people choose to make the distinction of mute being a physical cause and nonverbal being mental. I don't personally find this distinction that important, though.

-verbal and -speaking suffixes: Both mean a long term speaking ability. Which someone prefers is simply up to them but both mean the same thing. Please note that these terms are body exclusive and in the case of alters in plural systems, other suffixes like -vocal and -vox may be used.

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I use two iPads & a phone as a backup. As well as that, I do most of My editing on a separate iPad. (and as typing! I am writing this on big iPad TD Snap! )

Both of My iPads have TD Snap & Proloquo2Go on them. However, they have different boards and voices.

This is My main AAC device. It has a bigger board and brighter buttons.

[ID: A photo of an iPad with a TD Snap 7x12 home page on its screen. The colours are lighter and vibrant. /End ID]

This is My other AAC device. It has darker buttons and a smaller board, and uses a different voice from My main AAC.

[ID: A photo of an iPad with a 5x8 TD Snap home page on its screen. Its colours are darker and more muted compared to the first iPad. /End ID]

Which I use depends on the day & how I feel.

In addition, I have My phone with Proloquo2Go and a Boogie board. They are used when other options aren't available.

Using multiple communication options is very useful for I think anyone but especially AAC users, as we have more complex communication needs than most people.

Having multiple ways to communicate is crucial for Me, personally. Because of having a cognitive impairment, being nonverbal, and being a system, I struggle with only one communication method.

Being able to have different communication methods is helpful because sometimes a bigger board is too much for Me, or sometimes My device dies and I need to write.

I hope this helped you learn something new today! You can ask questions or share your experiences if you want!

- Think about its purpose. What do you plan to use it for? Always, or just sometimes? Is it just created for low tech or is it high tech too? Depending on what it's needed for you might want different words more easily accessible,

- Decide grid size based on the following: What you can see, your motor ability, and your overall processing. If you struggle with vision or tapping, a grid with less buttons might be better. If you don't have those issues, more buttons may be better. (But don't forget to not push it!)

- Design it based what you are already used to. For example, I always have My action buttons green because I am most used to them being green. I also always have My buttons organized alphabetically (when applicable) because otherwise it will confuse Me.

- If you are new to AAC, use a few practice boards for a little bit to see what you like. Many apps for high tech AAC have premade boards and there are lots of options for printable AAC boards for low tech, too! Learn what's best for you and go off that.

- For colours, go based off your vision ability. Bright colours personally hurt My eyes so I need more muted colours. Some people need higher contrasting colours, etc.

- Similar goes for symbols! Not all symbols work for everyone. In My case, I struggle to use a new symbol for a word once I am already used to a different symbol. This likely won't be as important to you if you rely more on text for word finding than symbols, but still good to note.

Sometimes though, it may just be easier to edit a pre-existing board than make a new one altogether. I have done that before and it's totally valid to do!

Most importantly though I will say: It will take time to get used to a board. It will probably feel uncomfortable for a little bit and you might want to start over. Those with even the highest communication abilities it will take a few months to get around it easily using it full-time. Though if you use your AAC board part time, are cognitively impaired/disabled (same), are intellectually disabled, have memory issues (same x2), or have any other condition that may affect navigating AAC, it will take longer, sometimes even years. Don't let that discourage you, though!

AAC should be based off what your needs are. But that's difficult when your needs are CONSTANTLY! CHANGING!

I always have variations in what type of board I need, colours, how many buttons, etc, but I can only do so much, even with multiple devices!

And I don't mean standalone AAC advocacy in this -- AAC use advocacy is important but not the point of this post.

Rather, I almost never see AAC users (especially fulltime and/or nonverbal AAC users like Me) included when I see compilations of people talking about their experiences of bigotry, or people shouting out AAC users in their advocacy posts that are otherwise unrelated to AAC.

AAC users are everywhere, and we should be included when you talk about things like autism, neurological disabilities, intellctual disability, and so many other conditions that can require AAC use.

AAC = Augmentative & Alternative Communication