Speech is exhausting
This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.
About the autistic author markercorbin, e. (2025). Speech is exhausting. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 41(3), 245-247. https://doi.org/10.1080/07434618.2025.2513907
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Authors
Abstract
This paper focuses on my meaningful participation in society as a semispeaking AAC user, the importance of self-determination and interdependence, and the critical role of participatory research. Having spent years in speech-centric services as a child, I pushed myself to use mouthwords for decades. But the cost was high. Such "expensive speech" is defined as that which may be effective, but has a significant cost in terms of energy, cognitive resources, or other internal resources, affecting what is available for other or later skills or tasks. Multimodal AAC has decreased my cognitive load, freeing up resources for more meaningful participation in society. Yet many people do not have access to the supports they need to communicate fully. Future research should examine and deconstruct barriers to AAC that are established and maintained by ableism. Every human deserves the opportunity to explore multiple robust AAC options. Too often AAC users' perspectives are disregarded, no matter how tenacious our self-advocacy. The idea that the field of AAC research itself would perpetuate this enforced "voicelessness" is deeply unjust. Our contributions to AAC research - via participatory models that position us as equal partners - can, will, and do make that research more meaningful.
Bibliography cited by this reference
Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.
Cited bibliography overview
These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 07:53.
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Alyssa Hillary Zisk *Autistic author. Learn more… , Elizabeth Dalton (2019). Augmentative and Alternative Communication for Speaking Autistic Adults: Overview and Recommendations . Autism in Adulthood, 1(2), 93-100. SAGE Publications.
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Amy L. Donaldson , endever* corbin *Autistic author. Learn more… , Jamie McCoy (2021). “Everyone Deserves AAC”: Preliminary Study of the Experiences of Speaking Autistic Adults Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication . Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 6(2), 315-326. American Speech Language Hearing Association.
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Amy L. Donaldson , Alyssa Hillary Zisk *Autistic author. Learn more… , Brandon Eddy , endever* corbin *Autistic author. Learn more… , Melissa Ugianskis , Erin Ford et al. (2023). Autistic Communication: A Survey of School-Based Professionals . Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 8(6), 1248-1264. American Speech Language Hearing Association.
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Zisk A. H. (2024). Virtual Webinar Presented for the United States Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (USSAAC) . Virtual Webinar Presented for the United States Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (USSAAC).Type: OtherCrossref