Day: July 9, 2018

foreverdreamseniordogsanctuary:

With so many senior dogs and resident senior cats in our care we are using a lot of food and supplies. We realize our need for more supplies is always very urgent. We are in need of canned dog and cat food, dry dog and cat food, small and medium treats, pill pockets, training pads, trash bags (tall kitchen and 55 gallon), paper towels, Clorox clean up, sterile exam gloves, laundry detergent, liquid fabric softener, dryer sheets, baby wipes, dog and cat beds, Donations can be dropped off at Purrfect Bark (155 W Mills St #109, Columbus, NC 28722) and Bird Mountain Market (22601 Asheville Hwy, Landrum, SC). If you are not in the local area, donations can be purchased and shipped directly to us from our Amazon wishlist https://buff.ly/2FpzrNC You can also click the donate button on our Facebook page https://buff.ly/2vQCiiV, the PayPal link https://buff.ly/2DqR2DT or you can mail donations to Forever Dream Senior Dog Sanctuary PO Box 521, Tryon NC 28782. (at Forever Dream Senior Dog Sanctuary)

Semiverbal Communication

lavender-sprinkles:

I think we don’t talk about semiverbal communication enough in the autistic community. We all know nonverbal is not speaking in words or speaking only a VERY small amount of words with significant struggle and pain. Semiverbal, though, has a much broader definition, and we underestimate the value of using this word to describe the way we talk with our mouth parts.

Just because we can still sound out vowels and consonants in such a way to form a word does not mean we are communicating properly and effectively. So many times I’ve had people tell me I can speak “just fine” because they can hear what I am saying and then there ends up a misunderstanding of some sort because they did not understand that I was not speaking just “fine”.

Semiverbal could mean…

  • Speaking and expressing thoughts through scripts like movie quotes, commercial jingles, bits of songs, and things you hear in your everyday life.
  • Speaking a full sentence but replacing words with certain sounds or bodily motions so that there are pauses in the sentence where you interject the replacement.
  • Speaking words out of order consistently so that the correct meaning can still be interpreted, but only after taking a moment to think about it and correcting the order.
  • Shortening full sentences or phrases to a more shortened form such as “I love you” to “Love” or “I want water please.” to “Water”.
  • Talking coherently in some areas of speech and then other parts it turning out garbled or incorrect.
  • Sentences in your head not matching up with the words that come out of your mouth so that people misinterpret what you mean (this is a big issue for me personally, and I often have to get people to say back to me what I say so I can catch any mistakes because I don’t realize that they happen when the words come out of my mouth).
  • Starting out saying something and then forgetting a word so you have to start the sentence over  and rework it to fit in a similar word so your sentence still makes sense. Saying something but one word was missing so you have to say it again with the word inserted.
  • Thinking the right word in your head, but only wrong words coming out of your mouth.
  • Making up words to mean things even if you know the correct word for what you mean because the made-up word sounds more right to you (this doesn’t count mash-up words, just words that are completely made up).

I really believe if people understood the multiple ways someone can be semiverbal we may be able to avoid a lot more misunderstandings and frustrations when autistics speak and recognize even if we can talk, we are still struggling to communicate.

I think we should use the word semiverbal more because it doesn’t just mean can speak, but only a little bit, it encompasses a lot of types of difficulties autistics have when speaking.

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Ok to Reblog!

Day 20 of Autism Acceptance Month 2018

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vaspider:

Launching July 15th, 2018, our very first Kickstarter!

A few sneak peeks today, with more to come, and a bit of a FAQ. The art above is not an official mock-up yet, I’m waiting on that to come back from the pin manufacturer. We’ll have gold plating & rubber backs on our pins. 

1) Why start with the raised fist?
We’re Socialists, and pro-labor, and the raised fist started as a symbol of pro-union movement in 1917, carried through to 1948 when the stylized version used by Socialist parties around the world came to be, and has been used consistently through to the present day. When we designed this symbol (which has been available on our patches and shirts for a while), we took a few things in mind – a) we were very conscious to style ours after the Socialist fist and b) we used a left fist both because we are leftists and to avoid cross-confusion with the BP salute (right fist) and 1960s/70s feminist icon and c) left-handedness was long associated as a ‘sign of secret gayness’ and so it packed even more symbolism in for us.

2) Are you going to offer the More Color More Pride version?
Yes! We found a pin maker that would allow us to do it without having to set it up as a whole separate pin. As inclusion is one of our core values and representation is one of our core values, the More Color, More Pride pin will be one of the first four pins available through the Kickstarter.

3) What about other flags like trans, bi, pan, nb, etc.?
Rainbow, Trans, Bi, & More Color, More Pride will be the first four pins available. We currently have art out for mockups for Asexual, Aromantic, Bisexual, Genderfluid, Genderqueer, Intersex, Lesbian, Non-Binary, Pansexual & Transgender, and the rest will be unlockable via stretch goals. Sneak peeks of art will be rolling out over the next week, and the sooner we hit our stretch goals, the sooner those pins will be available!

4) Who the heck are you, anyway? Why you?
We are a family of queer disabled artists (2 adults, one teenager) who run NerdyKeppie and make nerdy, punk, and Pride Judaica, shirts and accessories. This is our full-time gig and keeps a roof over our head and a charge in Mandy’s power wheelchair. And if not now, when, if not me, who?

5) How much?
Early-bird pricing will be $10, with post-early-bird starting at $12. We’ll be offering quantity discounts as well as the option to sponsor a pin for someone who can’t afford one. (That was a fantastic idea that @optimysticals did with their last Kickstarter, and we’re all about sharing the love.)

6) Are you using a fair-trade pin maker?
Our pin manufacturer is a small business in the US. We are not importing our pins from overseas. That’s super important to us. See also: we’re fucking socialists. Sure, we could probably get them cheaper, but it’s always important for us to live our values. 

7) So… July 15th?

July 15th! We can’t wait!