Hi guys, this is a picture of my iPad with TD Talk downloaded on it!
I also have Proloquo2Go as well, but I don’t use it as much as I am now using TD Talk now.
I used to be a staunch symbols based AAC user but now I’ve been converted because it’s so much more easier to type out a message with text based apps than it is for symbols based AAC.
So this is really a nice change. Does anyone else use text based AAC as well?
Hi, everyone. I'm an old member who just got their account back and so, am posting again.
I am on my way to starting college after this summer break. The college course is fully online, so i won't have someone drive me to college every day.
I have graduated from high school, and i'm currently in summer break, and let me just say this; It is just so boring! Nothing is happening in real life except for the odd drama or situation that starts over on social media every few months or so.
I have literally nothing to do and so i am just whiling my time online because again, i literally have nothing to do. No programs, no classes, not even shopping trips with me and my parents as they don't shop a lot.
The only things that are happening, and so i am really excited for them to come as a result, are this event which is an info night for a service provider that provides services for youth and adults with developmental disabilities, then next month is a family day at my dad's workplace.
But other than that, that's it. We've been looking for programs but nobody has responded to my mom's email yet. She sent an email to the directors of two programs that i showed her because i liked them, and still also no email was responded to.
I don't understand what is going on and if i would need to contact a developmental services agency caseworker for help on enrolling me into their programs or not, but there's no mention of doing either of this on the website for the developmental services agency or on that service provider's page.
And i can't just get up and walk to places, nor drive, due to my autism. I'm not independent enough (YET) to be able to do these things. My mom or other parent would need to be with me everytime i go out into the public, and sometimes, she can't drive nor accompany me to places due to stuff that she has to do.
I don't like it when people, especially autistic people who are independent (I am aware that you guys have your own struggles too, i am not invalidating them.), tell me that i can do it or act surprised or otherwise shocked that i cannot drive by myself or even be out in public without adult supervision.
Like there are autistic people out there who more or less have the same kind of needs as i do, like there are others out there who also need caregivers (official and unofficial like parents) and adult supervision that makes it so they can't do stuff like being out in the public without them due to safety reasons.
Yet people don't know or are surprised when confronted with the fact that these people exist, and that i (who is talking to them) am one of those people. And every time that this happens, it really annoys me. I am feeling alone in the autism community, and just, not representated.
I am feeling actively ignored when i speak to someone lower support needs than me, especially if they are surprised that people with medium or higher support needs like me exists around them.
If anything, i'm just so jealous of these autistic people who can these sorts of things independently, because it seems to me that they can do whatever they want (Within reason ofc or without idk) without having to worry about their parents' being able to drive and to supervise them while out in public.
Like i also don't understand how you can do this, what is stopping me from learning these skills?
I have wanted to go to life skills classes during high school but i couldn't because the class just wasn't suited for me and my needs, but if there was a class that taught exclusively life skills i really would have loved to join. Same goes for any programs that teaches the same skills.
I'm just frustrated and miserable right now, as i'm sure you could tell if you're reading until now on this post. (Also sorry for the long post and the fact that i had posted twice all in the same day.)
In just a week's time, me and my parents and grandparents will be going to this info night event.
The event is for families and for people with developmental disabilities, and apparently, one of the organizations that will be there will be introducing a new 12-week-long program that focuses on hands on skill development as well as meaningful community inclusion.
However, they will also introduce their tiered support system which they say is designed to empower families while they are helping their loved ones successfully transition into adulthood.
I'm excited to come with my parents because hopefully it could give us some help when it comes to finding services and programs for me to join!
I will make another post on how the night went, and with any information that i really wanted you guys to know because it was interesting for me.
Hey guys, i have forgotten the password for this account, but i have fixed it all and now i can log back into this account.
So, while i was gone (I was using u/kitkitkate2 for some reason but i am sure it has something to do with not knowing the password for this account after a long break off of Reddit), i had been assessed by the provincial developmental services agency, and the results came back stating that i was on the 73rd percentile which meant i am moderate support needs.
Which was so relieving, but now after a while, i was falling into the spiral (As i had posted about on my u/kitkitkate2 account) of thinking that the assessor was somehow wrong or that my mom had been lying even though she isn't known to lie. She hasn't even lied to me in these past few years.
Anyway, i am relieved to know that i was indeed medium support needs after a long time of guessing and just... Spiraling. But that ended with the results paper being handed to me.
Edit: before anyone asks how i know, here is a quote from the report that listed my support needs: " u/AutistiKait is in the 73rd percentile on the Supports Intensity Scale – Adult Version, 2nd Edition. This means that, generally u/AutistiKait ’s support needs fall in the mid compared to other adults with a developmental disability."
Edit 2: Here is the link to the post talking of me spiralling about my support needs. https://www.reddit.com/r/SpicyAutism/s/jsDsfKHh5h . I will have a link that sends you to a comment that helped me understand my percentile and what it meant for me in terms of support needs. Here is the comment link: https://www.reddit.com/r/SpicyAutism/comments/1vqwwws/comment/p4auvw7/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button