My AAC Journey, with Tiffany Joseph

2022-10-13

Discover what’s possible when capabilities are more than meets the eye. Tiffany Joseph is an Autistic Self-Advocate, a single mother of three, and the digital creator behind the IG account Nigh Functioning Autism. She uses her platform to promote the changes she wants to see in the world regarding disability and intersectionality. Tiffany sometimes uses an Alternative Augmentative Communication device, or AAC for short. Before our interview, I sent Tiffany a list of questions so she could prepare her responses in writing. The voice you’ll hear for most of Tiffany’s side of the convers...

Discover what’s possible when capabilities are more than meets the eye.

Tiffany Joseph is an Autistic Self-Advocate, a single mother of three, and the digital creator behind the IG account Nigh Functioning Autism. She uses her platform to promote the changes she wants to see in the world regarding disability and intersectionality. Tiffany sometimes uses an Alternative Augmentative Communication device, or AAC for short.

Before our interview, I sent Tiffany a list of questions so she could prepare her responses in writing. The voice you’ll hear for most of Tiffany’s side of the conversation is her AAC reading her responses out loud. In instances when she wanted to add more to her response, or answer a follow-up question I asked, you’ll hear Tiffany using her spoken voice, or "mouth words."

After the recording, Tiffany mentioned that her mouth words work better some days than others, and that that day happened to be one that she felt comfortable answering some questions off-script.

In today’s conversation, we discuss:

Internalized ableism
Coping with bullying
The inclusion of Asperger’s diagnosis under the umbrella of autism
Aspie supremacy
Finding community online
Tiffany’s AAC journey
The different apps she uses depending on the situation
Misconceptions about AAC
Some of Tiffany’s ideas to improve the education system
Why she chose her IG account name Nigh Functioning Autism
The intersectionality of being Black and Autistic
What she thinks true inclusion should look like

To learn more about Tiffany and her work, please visit Nigh.Functioning.Autism.

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