Verbal Stance And Disability Pride Flags
PT: Verbal Stance And Disability Pride Flags /end PT
Nonverbal
PT: Nonverbal /end PT
Nonverbal: extremely severely to profoundly struggling to verbalise intelligibly and effectively, total or nearly total inability to use verbalization to communicate reliably, inability to verbalise more than a few utterances, words, part of phrases, etc. Having nearly only non communicational, irrelevant or incomprehensible speech. Might entirely rely on AAC.
Original nonverbal flag by @pupyzu. Original post here (link).
Semiverbal
PT: Semiverbal /end PT
Semiverbal: moderately to severely struggling to or being hardly able to functionally verbalise most to all of the time. This includes frequently or consistently: taking awhile to formulate verbalisation, having a restricted, limited verbalisation, etc. Only verbalising in specific circumstances, familiar situations, about familiar topics or for specific purposes, etc. Being mostly/fully able to verbalise but struggling significantly to do so, etc. Having shortened, partial, repetitive, misplaced, forgotten, garbled, incorrect, mashed-up, inintelligible, made-up verbalisation, etc. Might predominately to drastically rely on AAC.
Original semiverbal flag by @pupyzu. Original post here (link).
Hemiverbalflux
PT: Hemiverbalflux /end PT
Hemiverbalflux: variably struggling to verbalise, from mildly, moderately to severely. Verbalization fluctuating in intensity but always within the borders of semiverbal and demiverbal. Struggles with verbalization vary in intensity, sometimes severe, unable to form coherent verbalization or to verbalise without extreme difficulty for weeks to sometimes mild, able to verbalise well, reliably for a few days, etc. Verbalization loss vary in length, frequency, sometimes being a few times a month or week, to every day. Lasting for a few minutes or hours, to days, happening often or over long periods. Fluctuations can be random or have causes. Hemiverbal can also be used on its own as a separate term to mean bordering/being somewhere between semiverbal and demiverbal. Might regularly to mostly rely on AAC.
Original hemiverbalflux term and flag by @jet-voidrock. Original post here (link).
Demiverbal
PT: Demiverbal /end PT
Demiverbal: mildly struggling to verbalise, half of the time, most of the time, to all of the time. Verbalization loss might happen anywhere from a multiple times a day, to a few times a month. Possibly for no apparent reason, a mix of reasons or a variety of reasons. May experience slight difficulty only a little of the time, half of the time, to all of the time with speaking, articulating, complex language usage, forming concepts, etc. Might mildly to regularly rely on AAC.
Original demiverbal flag by @lilqu33rboi. Original post here (link).
Verbalflux
PT: Verbalflux /end PT
Verbalflux: variably struggling to verbalise. Being able to verbalise, fluctuating at any intensity, difficulty, length, frequency and at any given time. Struggles and inability to use verbalization vary in intensity, length and frequency. Fluctuations can be random or have causes and can happen often or over long periods of time. Might periodically rely on AAC.
Original verbalflux flag by @pupyzu. Original post here (link).
Choiceverbal
PT: Choiceverbal /end PT
Choiceverbal: willingly not using verbalization, being able to verbalise (fullverbal, demiverbal, semiverbal, majorityverbal...), but choosing not to verbalise much or at all. Can be for any reason, including but not limited to: Being uncomfortable or disliking verbalising, being verbal-adverse, lack of understanding of social cues, etc. Might partially or entirely use intentionally AAC.
Term coined by @schizophrenicbulbasaur in this post (link). Original choiceverbal flag by @lilqu33rboi. Original post here (link).
Fullverbal
PT: Fullverbal /end PT
Fullverbal: being fully able to verbalise fluently and effectively, across a wide range of contexts. Having the ability to construct complete, grammatically correct verbalization, engage in complex conversations about various topics, etc. Demonstrating good control over vocabulary, tone, speech, pace and conversational nuances, permitting to express a broad spectrum of thoughts, emotions, and ideas. Might hardly ever rely on AAC.
Original verbal flag by @pupyzu. Original post here (link).
Hyperverbal
PT: Hyperverbal /end PT
Hyperverbal: being fully able to verbalise and, whether by choice or on accident, exhibiting an excessive or unusually high level of verbalization. Verbalising at length and with great detail about various topics, often dominating conversations. This can include rapid verbalization, above average verbal capacities, advanced vocabulary, logorrhea, frequent interruptions, an overwhelming amount of information shared, etc. Might have the ability to engage in discussions on multiple subjects, but communication can sometimes be overwhelming for others and may lack focus or relevance to the ongoing conversation. Might hardly ever rely on AAC.
Original hyperverbal flag by @pupyzu. Original post here (link).
Additional Informations
PT: Additional Informations /end PT
Verbal stances are descriptive of everyday reality, they shouldn't be used to describe verbality during brief, unusual circumstances (ex: short-lived shutdown, panic attack, aphasia, etc). Refering a small verbal loss episode as going nonverbal, refering a transient aphasia as going semiverbal, and similar misusage, is improper and incorrect. Verbality can change during a lifetime for a lot of reasons but is qualifying long-term, long lasting verbality. If verbalization fluctuates a lot, verbalflux might be used.
Plenty of terms can be used to refer to shutdowns and similar experiences. Losing words, losing speech, speech loss, speech loss episode, verbal shutdown, verbal crash...
Selective/situational mutism is often used interchangeably with shutdown, which is an incorrect usage. SM is a diagnosable anxiety disorder which causes the person an inability to speak in specific social situations, specific places, or to specific people if a certain condition is triggered.
I've made the definitions by combining multiple definitions I've seen over internet since I struggle to formulate working on my own. They aren't carved in stone, just an attempt to define those. Even though AAC usage and verbality usually coincide, it's not always the case, ence why I've putted 'might' use AAC.
It's also important to take into account that only communicative intelligible verbalisation have to be taken into account. Someone who constantly produces speech would be nonverbal if their speech isn't communicative or intelligible. For example, too fast to be comprehensible.
Most people don't make the distinction between -verbal and -speaking stances while some might make a distinction. In that particular case, -verbal would describe language ability, while -speaking would describe speech abiliy. For example, nonverbal would mean not having language whereas nonspeaking would refer to the inability to use speech to communicate. Considering that an overwhelming majority of people don't make distinctions and that terms exist to describe the verbality components distinctively, I've chosen not to do such distinctions in this post and use the broad term of verbality.
Descriptives of verbality components:
-lexic refers to the ability to use, comprehend, process language (link), while -speaking refers to the usage of speech and -vocal refers to a system's headmate verbality (link), whereas -scribal refer to the ability to produce written or typed language, whilst -communicative refers to the ability to communicate.
It's up to the individual (or close relatives when the individual isn't able to do that by themselves) to choose how they wish to identify, according to their preferences, what fits the best, what is more practical, etc. It is a personal preference.
I've made these flags since the original designs all have a solid white infinity symbol on them, which problematic since it's already a the recognised symbol for Métis (link) and also confusing since these terms aren't exclusive to neurodivergent people.
