By Mattie Matlock, PRC-Saltillo Blogger
Hello my name is Mattie Matlock and I have been on a communication device since I was three years old and I am 35 years old now.
I am the kind of person that who loves to teach other people about the communication devices, before I get into what I want to teach, let me tell you what kind of communication device that I am using today. I am using an Accent 1400 with a dot in the middle of my forehead to select what I want to say. Yes I can speak on my own but, my speech is hard for other people to understand sometimes so when that happens, I turn to my Accent type it all out and, let my Accent speak it to them.
Now, I didn’t always used to turn to my Accent for help when I was younger, I used to repeat myself over and over, if they didn’t get what I was trying to tell them that way, the next step that I would had taken is to spell it out. I would have gone through the alphabet and spell out each word out until they would have gotten what I was trying to tell them. Let me just say, that was foolish of me to have done that because I had a perfectly function communication device right in front of my face.
Why did I do all of that? Let me tell you. When I was younger I thought that I could do anything on my own and when I got my first communication device I thought to myself, I can talk on my own I don’t need this communication device. So I was determined to prove to everyone that I didn’t need this communication device. Not until I got into high school I started to realize not everyone except my parents will understand me. Then I started using my communication device more and more often. Now I use my communication device everyday. It is like second nature for me now.
When I first got my communication device, I thought that my speech-language pathologist was telling me that I wasn’t speaking right and it wasn’t until I got into high school and, I tried talking with my communication device and it went way better with the communication device then without it. Right then it clicked, the communication device isn’t in my life to replace my own voice, and it is here to help my life to be easier.
That is what I wanted to share and teach everyone who has or might be getting a communication device, don’t think of it replacing your own voice because, that isn’t what it’s doing, it is in your life to make your communication with people other than your family, close friends who can understand you, without the communication device. It is in your life to make your communication with strangers and people who doesn’t know how you speak a whole lot easier and better on you and for them.
Communicators In Action - AAC, communication, language, head pointing, access, device, accent, unity