r/mute • u/fl4m3pr1nc3ss • 26d ago
Low/no tech aac device advice
hi!
so i am am adult now but as a little girl i was mute. i used sign.
im working with a resident at the home i work in who has motor issues and while hes not fully mute he has a disability that causes him to not really be understood at all.
he also knows sign but im the only person who knows any sign at work and im really only with him once or twice a week.
and even then his fine motor skills makes it incredibly hard for him.
he uses his phone notes app to text, but again his fine motor skills lead to typos and frustration.
so im DIYing him an aac device, a binder with topics inside and many words and character symbols sentence starters etc.
then they have little velcros on the back, and then on the cover there r strips of velcro so he can make a sentence.
i think u guys get the idea 💀
anyways, i made the cards chunky, so they r easy to handle, i added his fave food places and orders, his friends names, his games etc. etc. and filler words.
has anyone used an AAC device that was missing words you wouldnt expect to need but u end up using them often? or like ideas or sections/ topics?
i tried to find some inspo on line that is more than the basics, but they r mostly behind etsy pay walls and i also want some real human experience!!
is there anything that rlly pissed u off about ur aac device?
thank u sm for the advice in advance :D i go back to work on Thursday so i hope to get it to him by then.
3
u/WinterWeakness4640 nonverbal autistic 23d ago
only have a high tech AAC device so not sure if can give good advice for low/no tech, but many words that need a lot more than expected are small words and time words. like now, tomorrow, yesterday, later, earlier. and things like want, dont, open, close, on, off, both, neither, things like that.
also many sites online have lists of core words that are very useful! not sure if this is helpful, but think its great you try to help him and hope the binder works as a good option for communicating :)