For disability pride, think I want to focus on this one thing that been bothering me
Been very frustrated lately by lack of phone call accessibility as someone who lacks speech but needs a lot of resources to stay healthy.
With rise of AI, it's only getting worse and worse.
More places changing their systems to incorporate AI answering machines.
Thing is...
Whenever I hear most people ranting about this change, it's usually about how annoying it is from an abled-person perspective or environmental or ethical impact.
Which are important valid reasons to be upset. I share those sentiments too.
But feel like disability is once again forgotten about within important discussion about change.
AI creates terrible language accessibility issues.
In fact, that's why it so annoying to deal with it.
In the past, if a place didn't have a call center or desk person to answer calls, they use extentions.
That meant you had to press a few numbers to get the right person.
Now with AI, you're expected to have a full conversation with a robot.
Tell them why you're calling, who you need to speak to, verify your info so the humans don't have to later, etc.
These bots can be bad at understanding what able-people are saying, so imagine how they handle these disabled callers:
People who use AAC (speech aids/devices)
People who slur, stutter, have "strange" voice or pronunciation
People with rapid or disorganized speech
People who use poor grammar & who don't speak full words or sentences
People who mix up similar common words
People with "deaf accent"
(i don't know if there is a different preferred term for this. Im sorry if I sound offensive. Please Lmk)
People with non-communicative speech such as vocal tics, echolalia, or babbling
Anyone who uses speech or language in a way that needs a human mind to interpret
Anyone whose voice sounds notably different
Ability to understand what AI is saying can be harder too:
d/Deaf people and other hearing differences
Auditory processing disorder
Receptive language disorder
Developmental disability, especially intellectual and learning disabilities
(AI can't help people who need things explained a certain way. AI unreliable and fails to adapt a lot.)
Anyone who frequently can't make out sounds and/or speech
Anyone who frequently has trouble with meanings in conversation
The problems I often face with AI answering machines (and that I'm sure many other disabled people have faced as well):
AI slightly mishearing me/my device
AI mishearing so badly that it basically makes up a fake conversation
AI not hearing me/my device at all
AI registering tics and stims as answers
AI "explaining" an instruction by repeating the same instruction again word-for-word
AI directing me to the wrong person without trying to confirm what I said
AI sometimes just... hanging up on me right after I speak my first answer...
These are the machines being put in front of
hospitals
doctors offices
mental health centers
pharmacies
transportation and in-home care
health insurance member services
medical supply companies
government resource agencies
non-profit organizations
advocacy groups
justice centers & other legal resources
customer service lines
many other places disabled people often need to access from home
It's another example of some of the most vulnerable being pushed away from the things we need, and we're also being forgotten in these discussions about things that can affect us a lot
Next time someone is ranting about AI job interviewers, please also remember:
the AI pharmacy assistants that make it impossible for someone with a speech disorder to sort out their meds
the AI scheduler that won't allow a D/deaf person to access the right extension of the clinic to set up an appointment
the AI agent that confuses an intellectually disabled person into anger and tears
the AI answerer that hangs up on a mentally ill person seeking help in crisis because they aren't speaking coherently enough
Human beings need to be at the forefront of human resources and issues for disabled people especially. Please remember us. Please fight.
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What’s it called when you have Can’t Talk Disorder? (Or Talk Weird Disorder?)
So, you’re neurodivergent¹ and you can’t talk. Well ... you CAN talk ... some of the time ... but it hurts, or people don’t understand ... and, like, you can tell SOMETHING’S wrong ... but they’re saying you shouldn’t call it ‘going nonverbal’ ² and, well, what DO you call it?
The answer is complicated. There is SO MANY terms for various ways to not speak, have limited speech, or have weird speech. And they all seem to be pretty narrow. ‘Mute’ refers to all people who can’t speak, no matter the cause, and ‘nonverbal’ technically means the same thing, though it’s more often used when there seems to be a neurological (brain) reason for the lack of speech. But there doesn’t seem to be similar terms for ‘speech is hard’ that doesn’t have a cause baked into it.
 ‘Aphasia’ and ‘apraxia of speech’ are limited to brain injuries. ‘Dysphonia’ is limited to physical injury to the vocal chords. ‘Language disorders’ are limited to things diagnosed in children at a young age when their speech/understanding is delayed. ‘Selective mutism’ refers specifically to trauma affecting speech ability. Etc.
Rather than a broad term that everyone can use, I’ve discovered some more narrow descriptors of various difficulties that someone could have. But, before I get into them, I want to discuss WHY it can be helpful to have this language. And why it can be unhelpful.
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I’ve known there was ‘something wrong’ since I was a kid. Talking hurts my head. It’s exhausting. I make a lot of mistakes. Sometimes I’m reduced to tears and shaking. But I’ve never had the words to describe what’s wrong. And it’s made me feel like I’m faking, being lazy, or imagining things.
Not having set terms also means that other people tend to interpret what I’m saying as normal difficulties with communication. Everyone has trouble finding the words sometimes, and says the wrong word occasionally! It’s really hard to communicate the scale of my issues, especially since they aren’t bad enough to get a professional diagnosis. They’re just wearing me down daily and making me avoid all social interaction. (Please mentally insert sarcastic/rolling eyes emoji here. I don’t understand emoji enough to do it myself.)
Having terminology helps me be patient with myself, and research things that might help. It helps me recognize patterns, and that certain behaviours and experiences are related - that they're not a whole bunch of separate issues.
On the other hand, many of these terms ARE pathologizing normal behaviours. (That means treating them like they’re signs of disorders.) Especially with psychotic disorders, it seems like EVERYTHING gets treated like a sign that you’re broken.³ Please don’t look at these terms and think they mean that your harmless behaviours are actually things that are wrong with you!
It’s only a problem if it’s hurting you, okay?
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¹ The working definition for ‘neurodivergent’ in this post is limited to autism, ADHD, tic disorders, PTSD, and mental disorders in the psychotic, anxiety, and mood varieties. Because those are the things that turned up during my research.
² The reasons that people object to the phrase ‘going nonverbal’ are complex. I don’t understand all the nuance. For me, the heart of the issue is that it makes it harder for nonverbal people, who already find communication hard, to find resources for themselves and connect with other people experiencing the same things. It makes a term less clear for the people least able to be flexible with terminology. And it implies a connection with the experiences of people who are often frustrated with people talking for and over them.
³ If you’re dealing with a psychotic disorder, the term ‘thought disorder’ exists for these challenges. It’s ... well. I found it a good starting point to find many of the more narrow terms! I think the behaviours it describes are real! The way things are framed seems gross and ableist, though, so look it up at your own discretion.
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Anyways, on to the terms I’ve found for specific language issues!
(If anything feels like it might fit, look it up and find out more! These are VERY brief summaries. Just be prepared for the ableism. There's a lot.)
added sounds/words/phrases -
If you produce extra, unintended, syllables and words while trying to speak, or substitute syllables/words with incorrect ones, it's possibly 'paraphasia'.
If you use confused language, with seemingly unconnected words and phrases, it's possibly 'incoherence', or a 'word salad'. If this is due to schizophrenia, it's possibly 'schizophasia'.
If you involuntarily swear or say obscene words, it's possibly 'corprolalia'.
If you involuntarily make sudden and/or repetitive sounds, words or movements, it's possibly a 'tic disorder' and you have 'tics'.
repeated sounds/words/phrases -
If you involuntarily repeat your own words/phrases, it's possibly 'palilalia'.
If you involuntarily repeat the words/phrases that another person/show/etc has said, it's possibly 'echolalia'.
If you repeat sounds/words, prolong sounds, and get 'blocked' (have periods where no sounds will come out), it's possibly 'stuttering' or 'stammering', and you 'stutter'.
If you speak rapidly, repeat yourself, and use too many words, it's possibly 'logorrhea'.
If you involuntarily make sudden and/or repetitive sounds, words or movements, it's possibly a 'tic disorder' and you have 'tics'.
prolonged sounds –
If you repeat sounds/words, prolong sounds, and get 'blocked' (have periods where no sounds will come out), it's possibly 'stuttering' or 'stammering', and you 'stutter'.
wrong sounds -
If you produce extra, unintended, syllables and words while trying to speak, or substitute syllables/words with incorrect ones, it's possibly 'paraphasia'.
If you pronounce specific sounds weird, it's possibly a 'speech sound disorder', an 'articulation disorder' or a 'phonemic disorder'. Subsets:
If you pronounce sibilants ('s' sounds) weird, it's possibly 'lisping' and you 'have a lisp'.
If you pronounce rhotics ('r' sounds) weird, it's possibly 'rhotacism'.
abnormal word use -
If you use confused language, with seemingly unconnected words and phrases, it's possibly 'incoherence', or a 'word salad'. If this is due to schizophrenia, it's possibly 'schizophasia'.
If you use overly formal, flowery, fancy, 'dictionary' language, it's possibly 'stilted speech'.
If you use confused language, with seemingly unconnected words and phrases, it's possibly 'incoherence', or a 'word salad'. If this is due to schizophrenia, it's possibly 'schizophasia'.
If you speak rapidly, with erratic rhythm and poor grammar/syntax, it's possibly 'cluttering'.
added ideas/words/length of speech -
If you speak rapidly, repeat yourself, and use too many words, it's possibly 'logorrhea'.
If you chain together words based on rhymes, alliteration, or idea, without logical connections between them, due to mental illness, it's possibly 'clanging', 'association chaining' or 'glossomania'.
If you can't eliminate irrelevant/inappropriate details about something, it's possibly 'overinclusion'.
If you can't answer a question without a lot of unnecessary detail, it's possibly 'circumstantial speech' or 'circumstantial thinking'.
unconnected/abnormally connected ideas -
If your next thought is replaced by something connected/similar but not actually appropriate for the conversation, it's possibly 'evasion', 'paralogia', or 'perverted logic'.
When you think random, unconnected things have important meanings related to you, it's possibly 'referential thinking'.
If you chain together words based on rhymes, alliteration, or idea, without logical connections between them, due to mental illness, it's possibly 'clanging', 'association chaining' or 'glossomania'.
If you abruptly jump between ideas/topics, it's possibly a 'flight of ideas'.
If you frequently jump to unrelated, or barely related thoughts, it's possibly 'derailment', 'loose association', 'knight's move thinking', or 'disordered thinking'. (This is one of the ones they praise if you’re not mentally ill, by the way.)
If you can't answer a question without a lot of unnecessary detail, it's possibly 'circumstantial speech' or 'circumstantial thinking'.
get stuck on ideas -
If you get stuck on words or ideas, and can't change to another topic, it's possibly 'perseveration'.
rapid speech -
If you speak rapidly, without pauses and spaces to interrupt, it's possibly 'pressured speech'.
If you speak rapidly, repeat yourself, and use too many words, it's possibly 'logorrhea'.
If you speak rapidly, with erratic rhythm and poor grammar/syntax, it's possibly 'cluttering'.
erratic rhythm/no rhythm control -
If you speak rapidly, with erratic rhythm and poor grammar/syntax, it's possibly 'cluttering'.
limited speech -
If you add less detail than expected, say few words, or communicate very little with your words, it's possibly 'alogia', or 'laconic speech'. (The Wiki article for this one is kind of disgusting. Sometimes psychologists make me mad.)
loss of ideas/point/words -
If you frequently jump to unrelated, or barely related thoughts, it's possibly 'derailment', 'loose association', 'knight's move thinking', or 'disordered thinking'. (This is one of the ones they praise if you’re not mentally ill, by the way.)
If you lose your train of thought due to noticing things around you, it's possibly 'distractible speech'.
If you wander off topic and don't return, it's possibly 'tangential speech' or 'tangentiality'.
If your trains of thought abruptly stop and you may not be able to start them again, it's possibly 'thought blocking', or 'obstructive thought'.
If you can't speak, either entirely or in certain situations - due to anxiety, stress, trauma, or other psychological issues – it's possibly 'selective mutism' and you are 'selectively mute'.
If you repeat sounds/words, prolong sounds, and get 'blocked' (have periods where no sounds will come out), it's possibly 'stuttering' or 'stammering', and you 'stutter'.
Hey does anyone know of a term for when it is difficult and EXTREMELY draining to speak, at all times, 24/7, day in day out, but you ARE still able to force yourself to do it 99% of the time?
I do still lose speech sometimes and on VERY rare occasions, I am completely unable to force any words out no matter how hard I try.
As using the term "going nonverbal" is insulting and inaccurate, I want to find another term that accurately describes me.
If anyone knows of any terms, I'd greatly appreciate it if you commented them!
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I hate how my words get all jumbled up and I can't speak right. I hate that I feel like my words aren't mine. I hate feeling stupid because both my visa is came out right.
