Speechlessness

At 20, Calder has become reticent. He gets upset if we ask him too many questions. (At this point, I'm wondering how to send him for mental capacity assessment to apply for deputyship - surely many questions would be asked to verify that he cannot answer them.) Last week, a new gym trainer at NCSF Uplift tried to engage in friendly introductions only to face his stony silence. To prevent a meltdown, I stepped in to explain that Calder doesn't communicate but learns well from demonstrations. At the beginning of this year, Calder was hospitalized for acute back pain. He met many doctors and nurses and I had to repeatedly announce that he doesn't talk and can't answer their questions accurately. As I was pronouncing this limitation, I was heavy at heart, aware that it reinforced the speechlessness: "Mommy is saying I cannot talk so therefore I can't/shan't." (Maybe I should do such explanation surreptitiously in writing instead of aloud.) Currently I'm hoping to train Calder to travel independently but am concerned how he is to get help if stuck. So I return to the free Speech Assistant AAC app I downloaded some time back, that can perhaps "speak" on his behalf, provided he has the initiative to either sound or show it. The phrases can be modified and users can choose a suitable voice. Text can also be enlarged for easy viewing. Sharing about it here for the benefit of other autism families.