What is Reddit's opinion of Emergency chat?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

That's Auditory Processing Disorder (a co-morbid symptom of ASD) and, alongside the social and sensory issues, is probably one of the most disabling parts of ASD for me because it prevents all communication in unfamiliar places. When I'm having sensory overload (mostly from colour, movement, shapes and noise), or even if I'm just in a strange and unfamiliar place where my brain has gone into overdrive involuntarily sucking in all the visual aspects like wall angles, anything with colour or writing etc, my hearing interpretation fails. I can hear the speaking, but my brain cannot interpret it. It might as well be Dutch or Chinese to me. When people see that I cannot 'hear' they say the same thing slowly and/or more loudly, but that just results in slower and louder garble. There is absolutely nothing wrong with my hearing (if anything my hearing is over-sensitive).

Do you have an Android device? If so, a fellow ASD Redditor made a really useful app called Emergency Chat (in fact I'd say it's worth buying an Android device just for it). You can customise both the title and the body text (mine explains that I cannot understand what is being said to me due to the environment). I admit though I tend to avoid situations altogether which isn't so good - like not buying a coffee for a long commute home from where my office is, because I simply won't be able to understand what is being said to me, or not going grocery shopping because I just cannot understand the cashier and it usually leads to embarrassment all round.

I carry two similar cards (one is a registered scheme with local constabularies and emergency services, and the other is from the National Autistic Society). I can end up losing the ability to communicate coherently so they're invaluable to me.

I also have a fantastic Emergency Chat app (on Android - created by a fellow Aspie Redditor). I really recommend this to anyone who also has difficulty with verbal communication in situations. Both the title and message are configurable.

It used to be called (might still be) Auditory Processing Disorder and is one of the sensory aspects of Aspergers that some people (me too) can have. I repeatedly have to ask people to repeat what they're saying, but of course my brain can't think because the repeat words just addle me more. People sometimes think I'm deaf and just repeat the garble louder. I can hear perfectly, but with APD, regular English might just as well be Chinese! To make it even more fun, I can be struck with bouts of Selective Mutism to make me look even more stupid!

Honestly, there is not a lot that seems to work other than to remove yourself from the busy/stressful situation (which in most cases is impractical). It stopped me going into shops where I might have to ask for something (because I know I wouldn't understand the reply). If you feel brave enough to use it, there's a nice app called Emergency Chat (Android) which was developed by someone on /r/Aspergers. The idea is that you can hand your phone/tablet to the person you're speaking to and you can both use it to type text to each other. That won't work in a crowd of people though, which only leaves honesty about being on the autism spectrum and explaining that you can't always interpret what is being said. If you were partially deaf, you'd probably feel fine about explaining that. When autism appears to stop you hearing (actually understanding), that's the same level of disability and deserves the same sort of understanding/adaptations.

Having seen this inside of /r/aspergers recently, I'd also recommend (though this is probably more for attending an event with a friend) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jeroendebusser.aspiemeltdown

Speech therapy is helpful (so I've heard). I plan to use in the future. If you have insurance go for it!

Right now I use some apps: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jeroendebusser.aspiemeltdown

Emergency chat for those sudden times I get non verbal because of anxiety or if I have a panic attack and need to be left alone.

I also use Speech Assistant for everyday stuff. I like it because I can customize responses.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.asoft.speechassistant

To test out pitch and volume, I use Voice Tools (I can't seem to link it here but it helps me judge volume, how deep or high my voice it and let's me play a section of it back without recording anything)

PS: I don't talk to my family much because we don't get along. That might be because of sm, or it just might be because our personalities clash

As a disabled person with mostly disabled friends: please know that if the thoughts "Could I benefit from using a disability aid? Am I disabled enough to deserve one?" pop into your head, that's a sign that you probably would benefit from using one. Not always the one you've got in mind, but definitely something. Even if you don't consider yourself disabled. They're not magical signifiers of some higher level of suffering or whatever, they're just tools to make life easier for you.

If you wait until you feel like you finally deserve one, you'll cause yourself unduly stress while life could've been easier, and you'll probably regret not starting earlier once you do. So if you feel like you might benefit from using AAC, go ahead and try it out. You don't need to power through until you break down to prove you need it first. You deserve it now.

Sign language has already been mentioned. You'd be far from the first hearing autistic person to pick it up to make communication easier.

There's also a lot of apps you could try. I personally like the Emergency Chat app by Seph De Busser a lot.

I use an App called "Emergency Chat" for those situations when I go non verbal. It's Android, on the play store, free, and add free too.

There's other apps of course if you need the full communications thing.

Try Emergency Chat. iTunes and Android

It's intended for nonverbal moments but that can be anything from asthma to panic attacks to basically anything you want to customize the screen for. It's basically a text interface that's meant to be passed between two people.

That's a really cool idea! I'm not totally non-verbal myself, sometimes I go non-verbal when I have a shutdown and I use Emergency Chat for that. I imagine that making an app version of an AAC would help more non-verbal folks (especially kids) but I would suggest asking non-verbal folks specifically what would make a good communication app for them. I had a non-verbal friend in college who used sign language and texting to communicate and she said she wished she could get an AAC but apparently they're often prohibitively expensive, especially for people who have little to no access to services, so an app version of that would probably help a lot of people. But yeah, I'd definitely suggest asking around the non-verbal parts of the community for what would make the best possible app.

Could you teach people to use something like Emergency Chat? iOS Android It's really simple and launches a customizable explanation, then has a chat system where you can pass the phone back and forth to talk when you're having issues with verbal communication. It probably won't help the people who don't have words as much, but maybe emoji would be possible as some means of communication?

I love this idea - in fact, without realising it, I mostly already do it. I don't carry a handbag as such but I have a small shoulder bag that I carry my tablet around in. I always take dark glasses and ear-phones, and usually have a packet of Fruit Pastels which not only give a NICE taste, they quench thirst (I'm on some meds that cause dry mouth). I take a small perfume I really like in case of smells. A bit of that in my own bit of space dissipates smells that make me nauseous.

The tablet is a brilliant distraction device when I want to shut out everything around me (sometimes) and it gives me a way of communicating if selective mutism strikes (thanks to a fellow Aspie redditor who made this excellent app. It is a tool of brilliance and I recommend every Aspie gets it (not sure if there's an iOS version).

I also carry two autism ID cards. One is run by various counties and constabularies conjointly and is designed to hand to any emergency official to warn them that the card holder might not be able to communicate or might behave unexpectedly (an official diagnosis is needed to apply for this one) and I also carry a card from the National Autistic Society.

i use the apps emergency chat and leeloo aac ! (leeloo is available on apple too, but i'm not sure if emergency chat is). the latter uses speech synthesis, while emergency chat is purely text based.

in emergency chat, you can set a message to communicate to others what to do when you're having a nonverbal episode (can't explain it, but here's an example!) both apps have been very helpful for me, and i highly recommend them

Been there. I still do this sometimes. Not as bad as I used to be, but I used to be quite awful. So maybe I can help you a bit.

1. Look into alternate methods of communication whenever possible. This doesn't fix your problem, but it may help you bypass it in some instances, at least until you can get a better handle on things. For instance, reading your post here you seem to right reasonably well. Communicating to others in writing or text whenever you can might be a good way to bypass your difficulties with oral communication. I, too, write significantly better than I speak, and I have used this to my advantage by texting, emailing, and leaving notes whenever I can. I will even talk to my wife via Facebook Messenger sometimes when we are both at home, and I carry the Emergency Chat App with me wherever I go on both my phone and my tablet, even though I have never gone entirely non-verbal, as I can use it to communicate more clearly in certain situations or when I just can't make the words come out right. Again, this doesn't fix the problem, but by having a backup method of communication that works for some instances, you can build confidence by not feeling so trapped all the time by your difficulties with oral communication. Relieving the pressure, even a little bit, can help immensely. At least, that's how it's worked with me. Written communication skills can also be somewhat transferable to oral communications as by helping you form ready-made responses to certain situations.

2. Rehears. The number-one thing that has helped me speak better is rehearsing what I'm going to say beforehand. Whether it's speaking outloud what I'm going to say when I answer a phone before I pick it up, or role-playing certain situations I anticipate might come up (or even entirely fanciful and nonsensical situations for my own amusement), pre-planning and solo-practice have helped me incredibly. While I cannot conceivably plan for all possible scenarios, and while it has taken me years to build up to the point that I'm at now, practicing a wide variety of situations has helped me adapt lines, responses, and manners of speaking from a practiced situation into one that I might not have anticipated. I advise finding some place alone and verbally acting out scenarios, any scenario you like. You can even do it with others around if you whisper and take care not to let people see you talking to yourself. I even do it at work. It takes time to get this down and see results from your efforts, so don't get discouraged. This isn't an instant fix. As said, it has taken me years of doing this to get to the point where I can regularly fall back on lines and responses that I have previously planned for. But it's been worth it.

3. Remain calm when someone gets angry. Anger is, usually, not best met by anger, but by calmness. Once in a while there is an exception, but as a general rule, if anger is appropriate, always be the first to get angry. If someone else gets angry, remain calm and rational. If there is a rational reason to be angry, a genuine outrageous and intolerable situation which warrants a strong reaction, take the initiative and be angry. And by 'angry', I don't mean fly into a rage or act irrational, but be direct, firm, and verbally forceful. This is not something I recommend doing lightly, but only when it is necessary. Sometimes it may be necessary to react in anger to someone else's anger if their behavior is overly hostile or just out of control, but even then let your anger be calm and controlled. Whatever you do, keep calm and stay in control. This is something I have struggled with, as I turn to jelly around the 'alpha' types when they are doing their dominant strut, thanks to some abusive past situations. It took me years of practice to get control of myself when confronting alpha types. The key, again, is being calm and assertive, and being careful about how you show anger.

4. Find people who accept you the way you are and hang with them. This is another one for the "easier said than done" category, but if you can do it, having a small group of friends to practice communication with is great. I had such a group for several years, and it helped me come out of my shell a lot. Before them, I could scarcely speak without sticking my foot in my mouth, so to speak. After about 3 or 4 years of hanging out with people who accepted me with all my quirks, I could carry on conversations with them without much difficulty. It was a great crash course in social skills. If you can come by such a group, even a small one, take advantage of it. If you can't, even chatting with people online can help a lot, even if it's text based. As I said, such skills can be transferable from written to oral communication.

Good luck!

• Carry earbuds or earplugs. These two survival tools are very useful for dealing with crowded, noisy places and coping with sensory overload. Earbuds, with a music playing device of some sort, can block out unwanted noise and provide desirable sounds in their place, such as music or sound effects (ie: running water or rain) that can help you decompress. Earplugs are great when you can't use a music player, such as in some workplaces, or when you just don't want added music or sound effects. If you buy high-quality, transparent earplugs like mine, then you can be inconspicuous about wearing them. Tip: if you need to hear something while wearing the earplugs, such as someone talking, instead of taking them in and out, you can simply loosen them and let them sit just inside your ear without completely blocking the ear canal, so you can hear while still wearing them, then push them back in all the way when the need to hear has passed.

• Get a good phone or tablet, and rig it up with some Aspie-helpful apps. Most Android devices have a built in calendar app, and Samsung Android devices have an even better calendar app (IMHO). Keeping a portable calendar of all the minute things you need to remember, things you need to do every day down to the time you should do them, etc; can help you remember to do them and keep a stable and useful routine. You can also use it to remind you of any upcoming appointments and non-routine events, so you will always be prepared. Use the widget function to place the calendar on your main screen so you can see what is on the calendar every time you turn the device on. Other Aspie-helpful apps include: Emergency Chat, which can be useful for meltdowns and shutdowns, and also for those, like me, who communicate more easily in writing than speaking. LifeRPG can be used in a similar way as the calendar, allows you to set missions and challenges for yourself to complete, and lets you keep track of your progress and success at challenging yourself. And there are probably other apps out there that can help individuals with individual problems as well. My tablet is an essential tool for me, and I get by much better since I've had it.

• Chat online. As in actual chat rooms, not just boards like these. Chat rooms are real time social interaction, just like in-person interaction, but with 3 added advantages: 1) All body language, tone of voice, and other indirect cues outside of wording itself are taken out of play. This evens the social playing field a bit with NTs. 2) You have time to think and read what you are about to say before you post it. In this way, you can practice reviewing what you say, and go back and re-read and analyze it if it's taken the wrong way. 3) If you fuck up, you can just go to a different chat site and start over, or create a new account with a new name a few weeks later. Bonus: If you are like me, and you write better than you speak, then you will be in your element. If you speak better, there are always speech-to-text apps. Online chat rooms are a wonderful way to get practice at basic social skills in a relatively safe environment that you can easily disassociate yourself from if things blow up. By analyzing both what you and others say, you might be able to pick up on patterns that indicate social cues that you don't normally catch, or give away what the person saying it is feeling. And, like in-person social interactions, chat rooms force you to think on your feet, so to speak, but sort of on "easy mode". These skills can translate over into in-person interactions. It helped me a lot.

• Solve one problem at a time. This is my #1 tip for Aspie survival, but it's applicable for NTs too. If you heed nothing else I say, heed this. The troubles of life can seem overwhelming, especially when you are on the spectrum. When the proverbial shit is hitting the proverbial fan and everything seems out of control, and you simply don't understand what to do, it is all to easy to end up doing nothing. Or trying to do everything and inevitably failing. I have felt like this often. And I have found that by focusing on just one problem at a time, and solving that problem as completely as I can, I can make some slow progress to improving things. Even when things seem to be hopeless. Look for the most permanent and ideal solutions to problems that are within your reach, as it is best to only have to solve a problem once and have it remain solved. Focusing your energy and attention like this can be very effective, and it lets me use my Aspie strengths in analysis, troubleshooting, and hyperfocus to solve those problems.

Omg thanks so much! Here's the Google play store equivalent if anybody else needs it https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jeroendebusser.aspiemeltdown

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jeroendebusser.aspiemeltdown

Emergency chat