#i cannot answer the aac question as i too am not nonverbal or an aac user

[transingthoseformers]

In Transformers: Surge, Soundwave is the chief of the Cobalt Sentries, Decepticon alliance's secret police that handles both internal matters and espionage. Respected and feared. Howlback is his deputy, and the Reflector trio is propably also there and transforms into a spy satellite.

Soundwave is cobalt blue with yellow optics and visor, and looks like something between TFP and G1 Soundwaves i guess, with the tentacles. His altmode is some sort of a surveillance plane that deploys different types of drones (ground, flying, underwater, etc) that are his cassettes' altmodes. He was a spy before the war, working for whatever citystate he's from and operatinng in a citystate that would later join the Autobot alliance, where he had a liaison with the singer Blaster.

He orders/tolerates terrible things, but unlike Shockwave who admits to himself what he's doing is evil but thinks ends justify the means, Soundwave is convinced he's doing the right thing and won't let go of that idea because he really needs to believe he isn't evil. The war and the things it forces everybody do are bad enough already. When the war ends in a truce, Soundwave doesn't like the results and how Megatron or whoever took his place just gave up, and starts conspiring with Shockwave despite the guy being a traitor because they're agreeing.

Soundwave is also autistic, because i think he, Shockwave, and G1 Starscream come off as autistic. I've also considered making TFS Soundwave an aac user because he couldn't/wouldn't speak in TFP, but i'm concerned would that possibly be bad rep? I'm autistic and have this thing that's propably selective mutism, but i'm not nonverbal or an aac user...

Surge Soundwave is intriguing as all hell, his altmode sounds cool, and his role in the decepticons has to lead to quite the interesting situations (especially post truce, if his alliance with Shockwave is any indication)

#maccadam #transformers #i cannot answer the aac question as i too am not nonverbal or an aac user #iicr in tfp we see him talk in the last few episodes of s3 and we see him talk in RID15 (the wiki refers to it as a vow of silence?) #so for him it was definitely a wouldn't talk situation in canon #but in a lot of the fics I've read where he honest to god couldn't talk were interesting as hell and i find it an interesting take #Soundwave #transformers: surge #Shockwave #megatron #blaster

[perplexingluciddreams]

Not have much energy for good words for explain about CMHS (community mental health service) appointment today. But will try. It is not as shit as last bad bad doctor but still not very fun.

This is things I write on AAC when talk to mum earlier:

it is hard when doctor talk about past because my brain can't know time order so I feel like I am there not here

I wish I could explain about speech and how it works but just not have words for it

I know it in my head but not have the words

it is just that borrowing words from other people is not enough for explain how it feel

I like to be accurate and when I can’t it is very frustrating

it is hard how everything is so confusing and want to explain things a lot but don't know how

I say “about speech” because doctor ask a lot about how I am permanent nonverbal now and when I could talk before and how it happen with not able to speak anymore. It is so hard and make so upset when people talk about that , not even sure why it make so much upset. Just feel bad in chest.

I get scared and upset and overwhelmed and confused at appointment and mum rub back and hold hand and try to keep me calm and dad take me to car and I listen to Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus and feel a bit better but get worried because mum is still in appointment and get scared she will not come back. Is hard for brain to remember if people go away they will come back. And is new car first time in it. And keep ask dad about mum and not feel better until mum is back. And mum have dummy stop me from chew finger and suck thumb.

And doctor say she will not ask question about past because is all in notes, then ask questions about past anyway. And no sense of time order make brain get confused and want to explain and answer and cannot explain. And ask question about emotions and anxiety and keep ask even when I say I don’t understand don’t know. When ask about past things, all I can say is I don’t understand it at the time, so cannot even try to explain it now. Because level of understanding do not change with “hindsight” for me. Level of understanding stay same as it is in the moment - because every time I think of that moment, brain think I am back there at exactly that time.

And when I am very overwhelmed and scared and about to leave, she say “can I just ask him one more question”.

So it was not very good but not as shit as last doctor. She is still quite nice just talk too much too fast and ask hard questions and not really can do much to help with anything.

Glad mum and dad is both there, especially with combination of pain from bad wheelchair and overwhelmed from all words. Would probably be bad if only one person.

#doctor appointment #autism #autistic #nonverbal #nonspeaking #aac #words from my head

[arquaticdreamer]

ID:

1. "My experiences with sensory overload"

2. I'm going to talk about a specific kind of sensory overload for me this one has to do with information overload."

3. When autistic people especially high support needs has too many options to choose from or ways that they can answer a question we tend to get overwhelmed and shut down verbally. I'm mostly nonspeaking autistic so there are many times I cannot even type back or reply on my AAC device. Even if I want to so badly to give someone an answer or reply."

4. "I feel this is where lots of patience from the other person comes in. And it would be helpful if they didn't ask too many questions right after the other. So what might help instead us to read my nonverbal body language and back up a bit and make tour questions short consice and to the point and make it be just one question."

5. "Understanding and continuing to be patient with me if I am unable to reply it doesn't mean that I'm purposefully ignoring you. It just means I can't continue the conversation without getting to a meltdown point."

ID:

#autistic community #actually disabled #aac user #autism spectrum disorder #nonspeaking #nonspeakingautism #unreliably speaking #actually autistic #sensory processing disorder

[birdofmay]

Hello! I follow @notepadcollective and saw that they liked one of your posts talking about how you---and other nonverbal/nonspeaking autistics---don't like it when someone isn't completely nonverbal such as you or Notepad Collective uses it to describe themselves.

Personally, I am a semiverbal/semispeaking autistic. I experience it as a person who can (mostly) reliably speak with some difficulty, but there are times when I cannot speak at all. The words just can't come out---no matter how much I want them to---for a multitude of reasons. I usually use speech and sounds to communicate, but if I can't do that, I'll use my AAC apps, write, text, nod or shake my head, and use my small knowledge of ASL (American Sign Language) to communicate with others.

I've been using nonverbal to describe those times when I can't speak because I can't think of anything else to use. But recently, I continuously see posts saying that people like me shouldn't use that terminology. How else do you think I should describe it? Do you have any ideas on what to say instead? Or do you know anyone who could help me?

Also, another small (and less important) question, do you use an AAC app? If so, what do you use? Do you have any recommendations for ones to use and ones to avoid? I've been trying to save up for a device I found that would work really well for me, but until then, I've been working on setting up and customizing three different apps that I found. Though it hasn't been going the greatest... Two of them are really easy to set up, but the different screens and lay-outs are hard to navigate and would make my responses take long to be produced. Another doesn't have the exact features that I want, but it would make my responses much quicker. What do you think?

Semiverbal people can experience speech loss too, it's not a thing only speaking people experience.

Maybe you'll find a word that resonates with you here:

And I don't use AAC devices anymore, and neither AAC apps, I either use text-to-speech or sign language, so sry I can't help you with that one

- dear followers, if you have some advice or recommendations, answer in the comments ☝🏼

#ask

[autistic-bibliophile]

what actually is selective mutism? can you choose to just... do it? is it disrespectful if i just "don't want to talk" and become mute for a while? is there a period of time that's too short? or is it something that just happens that's an obstacle for the autism community? i AM actually autistic btw ^^

+ answering the question about nonverbal episode vs selective mutism

Hi, thank you for the questions! <3 So there is a difference between a nonverbal/nonspeaking episode and selective mutism. (Going to discuss a bit about both) It’s important to note that neither of these are “choosing not to speak” rather it is physically not being able to (but for different reasons!)

So, selective mutism is an anxiety-based disorder where the anxiety prevents the person from being able to speak. The person is unable to speak in certain social situations/settings, such as with classmates at school or to relatives they do not see very often. It usually starts during childhood and can persist into adulthood.

On the other hand, in an autistic nonverbal episode, there is a cognitive malfunction surrounding the language centres of the brain and the person is not able to speak. These episodes are not always triggered by stress—they can be due to sensory overload, a meltdown, a sudden change, frustration, miscommunication, or come on with no discernible cause.

The difference is that someone who is selectively mute can spend a day at school, not speaking, but come home and talk to their family, for example, but someone who is nonverbal/nonspeaking has a very difficult time speaking regardless of the environment. Some people with selective mutism can force words, however it is very difficult. It can affect everyone differently. So one is more anxiety-based and the other is more based on the connection between the brain, language, and mouth.

I have had nonverbal episodes that last anywhere from a few hours to a few months. The degree really varies too, sometimes I am able to mumble “mhm”, text, use aac, and other times I cannot even think in words!

Of course you can always choose not to talk—especially if you’re autistic, you could be fighting a nonverbal episode and not be aware of it. It’s absolutely not disrespectful if you don’t feel like talking!

Hopefully that helps!

:)

Sources:

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/selective-mutism/

https://www.reddit.com/r/autism/comments/bhflau/selective_mutism_vs_nonverbal/elte362/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3

#actually autistic #selectively mute #selective mutism #nonverbal episode #nonverbal #semiverbal #semiverbal autistic #selective mutism vs nonverbal episode #what is selective mutism #actually autism #asd #autism #actuallyautistic #autistic community #asd community #autism awareness #I should mention that I have nonverbal episodes but not selective mutism! #which is why I cited a reddit commenter I found who is selectively mute #hopefully this helps