When the Words Run Out (There's Some Other Stuff)

by Dora Raymaker · 2009-05-04 16:35:00 UTC
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abstract image of red smoke in gestural, dancing formsI'm (well, OK, perhaps this is open to debate) a pretty skilled writer. I wasn't born that way though; I've studied. And practiced. A lot. I've worked hard; made communication with words a priority. To someone who reads this blog, it probably looks like the words just flow out every day, and, well, sometimes they do, but there's a lot that goes unseen too.

I've been writing pretty much non-stop for a week and a half. I've had to prepare two public testimonies for state hearings. I had the honor and privilege of being asked to present on one of my favorite topics, augmentative and alternative communication, to the IACC. I've been working on grant proposals for my research group. Extra lots of work means extra stress means I rely more and more on my keyboard and notepad for my communication, which means more writing, typing, writing--

However it may look though, words really don't come easily to me. Words are non-native to my thinking. They are the flattened, translated, always-less-that-accurate shadows of what I truly want to express. Words come more easily than they once did, but they are still hard work. Hard work that no one sees from the other side of the Internet from me.

I am, at this point, pretty much all word-ed out.

So, a reminder: not all communication happens in words. Nor is all communication best served through words. Some alternatives:

  • Gesture
  • Body language
  • Sign languages
  • Consistent idiosyncratic behavior
  • Facial expressions
  • Non-speech utterances
  • Dance
  • Music
  • Visual arts
  • Formal visual languages
  • Touch
  • more--what else?--but this is where I run the rest of the way out of words--
Dora Raymaker
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