Lucky to advocate for myself

By Brandon Williamson, PRC-Saltillo Ambassador

There are many times I have felt lucky to have AAC to advocate for myself. I feel lucky to have a way to communicate with my big family and care team using a speech-generating device. I can ask for what I want and need. I can communicate what I am thinking, how I feel, and get help if I need it. My device helps me advocate for myself everyday. Without my device, I would not be able to advocate by myself to order my food at a restaurant with my big family (a favorite activity of mine). Not being able to say “I would like a cheeseburger with extra onions, extra pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes and french fries with ranch dressing.” That would be pretty unlucky, wouldn’t it? Imagine if I didn’t get the extra pickles advocated for myself. I feel most lucky when I use AAC with my big family. They are loud and crazy and like to hear me advocate for myself.

I felt lucky when I was able to go to the Ohio Statehouse in 2010 and use AAC to advocate for a new device. I had my old Vantage for 8 years. It had a cracked screen and was being held together by duct tape. I had outgrown the device. When we submitted to get approved for a new device, my funding source kept denying the funding for a new one. I set up a meeting and went to the Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus, Ohio to meet with 2 state representatives to advocate for a new device. The state representatives had the assistant director of Medicaid join us. He saw how bad my device was and 2 weeks later I was able to get funding for a new device. I felt happy I attended the meeting as a PRC advocate and made a difference in obtaining a very needed new device so that I could speak with others. I feel lucky I had the opportunity to help influence other AAC users to speak up and talk to others when they need assistance. I think my voice was heard loud and clear by the state representatives.

I also felt lucky when COVID-19 happened and I had a way to virtually communicate with others using my AAC device. In March 2020 everything shut down from COVID-19 and I had to start doing my therapies online. I felt lucky to have an integrated Accent 1000. I could use my Accent to go on Zoom and Google Meet for all of my virtual sessions. To get to my vocabulary, I open up Unity from NuVoice to communicate while on a video call. I like to share my screen on video calls to show what I am doing on my device and when I am typing a message. This helps them easily see my screen and when I am talking.

During the week, I attend a program called All R Friends. It's a program for adults with special needs. I felt lucky I was able to use Zoom on my device to attend my program virtually. I liked to play games with them and hang out and talk to people in the program online. I also used my device to make video calls with family and friends. This helped me stay connected with others. I felt lucky to have my AAC device during COVID-19 help me communicate.

I hope other AAC users have felt just as lucky.