Finding ways to communicate when sensory overload happens

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Fortunately when a meltdown happens it's a little controlled but more and more I'm learning that a lot of my social skills and communication problems seem more due to how I'm processing the situation I'm in rather than simply me either feeling driven to talk too much or get too quiet. While talking too much has been a problem in many social situations, I'm noticing that many times that's more of a response to feeling expected to engage in a conversation and the small talk gets overwhelming, or else I get excited because the conversation is about something I'm interested in and it's challenging not to get carried away. When I actually am able to *not* say anything, that too is stressful because it looks like I'm ignoring people or else it looks like I'm bored with what's going on when really I'm dealing with sensory overload.

For example, I recently attended a Doctor Who premiere party and had a great time, and enjoyed chatting with friends, but the noise and excitement did get to me, not enough to ruin things for me, but I felt myself freezing up and speech sort of turning off, and wishing I could still express myself without having to force words out.

I find myself in situations like that a lot. In the short term, I can simply let everyone know ahead of time what might be happening, but long term, what might be worth looking into for ways to communicate when talking is difficult? I've tried researching how to talk when you can't, but I keep finding things aimed at people with severe disabilities or severe intellectual or cognitive impairments, rather than for someone who can speak just fine but might need some help sometimes. Writing things down would be tedious, but I've mentioned before about whether or not a computer with speech capability would be a good solution- I could have it with me ready for when those situations arise, and when I'm able to talk normally, I'd just look like someone in a wheelchair carrying a computer with them for work or reading.

I do have some dexterity problems, so I wouldn't be doing a lot of typing to "talk" but actually having to limit the length of what I'd be trying to say via the computer would also be useful for those situations when things go the other way and I might end up talking too much- going to using the computer when I feel too excited to talk.

If I go this route, would a regular laptop or tablet work or would I need one of the purpose built speech computers I've seen some people use? And as I've mentioned before- I don't want to give the impression that I'm trying to get attention or make my disability more obvious, or using my condition as an excuse to do something really weird or geeky.

First of all, I recognize and experience the same problem.

Secondly, do not feel ashamed for using a computer with a text-to-speech app.

Many have an option to create templates for your most commonly used phrases. You could create one template that explains that your "health is low" at the moment and this way of communicating will help you "reserve energy" for dealing with your health, and another template that explains in more detail what you are struggling with. That way you can explain as little or as much as you feel comfortable with with each person.

Thirdly, I have never tried a specially built speech computer, so I do not know if they are better, or how much better they are, than a regular computer with a text-to-speech app.

Good luck, Simon01.

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31st of July, 2013
Diagnosed: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Auditory-Verbal Processing Speed Disorder, and Visual-Motor Processing Speed Disorder.

Weak Emerging Social Communicator (The Social Thinking-­Social Communication Profile by Michelle Garcia Winner, Pamela Crooke and Stephanie Madrigal)

"I am silently correcting your grammar."

I have a regular tablet with a text to speech app called "Speech Assistant", for episodes when I go nonverbal. I've never actually used it because my nonverbal episodes are primarily during and after meltdowns, when my cognitive energy is too drained for me to think clearly enough to communicate to someone that I need my tablet, and then use it to talk with. It has buttons to put pre-programmed words and phrases on, so you don't have to type out each word letter for letter, which is nice, and if you get another free app, Acapella, you can choose from different voices to change the accent and gender of your speech.

Thanks to both of you for the info! I've done a little more research on the text to speech apps and indeed, it looks easier than I thought. My thinking was a bit dated- I had seen people using purpose-built speech computers years ago and it didn't occur to me that like many things today, it would now be an app one could use on a standard tablet computer. In the near future I want to get a tablet when I can afford it, so one of those apps would definitely be an option. I like how the apps let you have pre-selected words and sentences loaded. That would make things really easy

I'm assuming that I could just buy the software myself, or do I need a doctor's approval on it? Just curious.

My communication problems are something I'll definitely bring up to the doctor when I'm tested next week.

The reason I seem a bit unsure about using text to speech is, like I've said before, my bad luck with people seeing certain disability-related things as ways to get attention rather than just tools to make things easier. Many years ago when I was first getting used to being in a wheelchair, I was running into a certain amount of hostility from counselors because I was inquiring a bit too much about a particular make of wheelchair that was better than the one I was first using and that came unintentionally came across as wanting a "cool" chair to look more disabled (unknown aspie thing I was experiencing perhaps?), and indeed, at the college I was at, there was a woman who was in a wheelchair who was very impaired but used a speech computer attached to the front of her chair, and probably made an offhand comment about how great (for that time) the technology was her chair with the computer allowed her to be relatively active, or something like that. Somehow a counselor overheard and that got grossly misinterpreted as me being envious of her and the "attention" she was getting! So over the years I've been careful, perhaps too careful, about anything that make my disability too "real". I waited years to get a power chair because of that, and these days, as I learn more about my situation, using text to speech definitely would make things easier for me, plus having the app on a regular tablet would just look like someone with their computer when their out and about