Notices by Merson the Person (dynamicallydisabled@spore.social)

@matthew @inthehands this is one of my preferred sources to send people right now. Compilation of stories people wrote in. Long but so important and helpful thing to send to folks who are not in MN. https://racketmn.com/voices-of-the-occupation-of-mn-ice-trump

Hey. Stop posting pictures of people at protests. Blur their faces. Get consent. Be better please, you are putting people in danger.

Maybe you've heard that people can be nonverbal or nonspeaking. But did you know there are many ways to be semi-speaking? I'll list some I just learned about below. Sing out if any of these resonate with you! @autisticadvocacy

@autisticadvocacy intermittent speech: when you can speak sometimes, but not always.

@autisticadvocacy unreliable speech: you may say things that do not match what you want or mean to say.

@autisticadvocacy insufficient speech: when your speech agrees with your knowledge and beliefs, but does not fully meet your communication needs. That is, you can speak orally and accurately, but not completely.

@autisticadvocacy And finally, expensive speech: when your speech is effective but has a significant cost in terms of energy, cognitive resources, or other internal resources, affecting what is available for other or later skills or tasks.

@autisticadvocacy Expensive speech is the newest term for me. It resonates so deeply as someone with energy-limiting illness. I imagine many people with #longcovid might resonate with this one as well.

@autisticadvocacy If speech is expensive for you, try #aac! (Alternative and augmentative communication) aac encompasses all the kinds of ways of communicating that don't involve typical verbal speech. Try typing! Text to speech apps! Handwriting on notes or whiteboards! Don't limit yourself to verbal speech if it's not serving you.

@autisticadvocacy personally I have an app called DeafNote. It's made for Deaf folks but is the only app like this I've found for android! You type on one side and the words appear upside down on the other. Great for ordering food/coffee/etc or communicating with someone standing in front of you. It has a text to speech function as well. Iphone version is called FlipWriter. Here's what mine looks like: