People won't accept AAC, it's beyond reasonable now.

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The only person that will partially accept AAC is the head support worker, who said we can "talk" by texting each other in our next session. But he said this will be a temporary measure.

My non-uni support workers do minimise talking as they know it overloads and confuses me. But my uni support worker won't accept AAC.

Everyone else (mental health team, parents, my friend, general people in my life) find it laughable that I should want to "talk" using my text to speech app / by typing / by writing. In fact they tell me "that's silly" or "don't exaggerate".

I have barely talked for 24 hours (except for one short phone call) and I have been relatively calm today, except for one shortish meltdown. However tomorrow I will have to talk quite a bit (care coordinator appointment and then my uni support worker is coming to my house to help me with exam papers) so I'm feeling my anxiety rising in apprehension.

Is there a way I can get the message across that AAC helps me? I feel like a "fool" for using / wanting to use AAC, because of judgemental attitudes.

Do you have a doctor's note saying you need AAC? In my experience university support refuses to back any accommodation unless you have a doctor's note for it.

My uni support worker is not employed by the uni, she works for an autism charity and is funded by Student Finance England. So she is independent.

My tutor is a git and I rarely interact with him.

My uni support worker is a full time one so I'm never by myself at uni.

I'm not going to uni right now as it's exam revision time, then exams, followed by summer holidays.

It's my non uni people like my mental health team that don't get it. And my uni support worker, but I'm finishing with her soon.

Do you find aac useful for communication?
I have difficulty imagining myself using it for effective communication, as it is too slow and too verbal.

I have problems with articulation and speaking in general. I don't like AAC but there's not really anything else I can use. I'm good at typing. I'm good at composing letters etc. When I speak it comes out... confused.

Other people think that you talk ok though?
Since they seem to reject your use of aac.

They don't think I talk ok at all. They think I can improve with practise and they're encouraging me to do that. I try but it's exhausting and distressing. They tried to send me to speech therapy but it ended badly after a quarter of a session.

It's true that you can improve with practice.
How do you talk?
What's your current level?
You only had mild speech delay right?

Good point.

I had mild speech delay yes.

I have an advanced vocabulary internally but when I speak, the words come out incorrectly and I very often don't say what I want to.

I can form sentences but the effort is enough to require a one hour long nap after communication is demanded on me at uni etc.

I'll keep trying with speech then. I'll ask my support worker to assist me in learning accurate articulation.

Yes AAC is slow and I probably should try to develop my speech.

It's just so exhausting.

My suggestion is to not try to speak the same way you write, but on a simpler level.
You don't have to use advanced vocabulary, but simple short words that are easier to say.
I knows lots of vocab, but I rarely use when speaking, it is not needed even in fancy science talks, and makes my speaking and cognitive load bigger, that makes me tired later.
Simple, short, to the point.
It is not needed to get across all your thoughts, just the ones to do a task, like the topic of the meeting you will have later.

I will try that when I see my care coordinator tomorrow.

I noticed that people who don't speak english well can still communicate ok, even though they have weird accents, low vocab, and awful grammar.
It is because native speakers fill in the words and meanings for them, they help with the load.
If you make effort to speak and people can see that you are trying and struggling, they will probably help you too.

Makes sense.

Maybe you would be less stressed out if you use AAC for now until exams are over, then start working on your speech during summer vacation.

I have a bit of a comment to make. Just because speech can improve with practice does not necessarily mean you should exclusively use speech. Speech isn't the best option for everyone.

For example, with children with pre-lingual deafness, born to hearing parents, research shows if you focus exclusively on teaching them to speak and read lips, most will eventually be able to speak. However, they will be very delayed in receptive and expressive language, and will also suffer delays in a number of other skills that are affected by language skills (eg theory of mind, academic skills, etc). This will continue to cause problems for them into adulthood.

In contrast, if these children are taught to sign, even if you try to teach them to speak as well, they're unlikely to get much speech. But their language skills will be only mildly delayed (because they may not have gotten treatment straight away, and their parents probably weren't fluent signers in their early years), and their delays in areas affected by language will be much milder as well. Their adult functioning, as a result, will be significantly better than an orally-taught deaf person, even though their poor speech skills require accommodations such as interpreting or using written communication.

Sometimes, it's better to use a highly effective AAC technique, rather than waste valuable time and effort forcing yourself to speak.

How did the meeting go?
Did you type or speak?
Did the other people understand your points?