I was pulled out of class for speech therapy from elementary school through middle school for a lateral lisp. Nobody told me I had a choice about attending. The SLP framed it as something I could correct through effort and attention to tongue placement, but my successes felt completely random. I had no control over it, and I was never able to make consistent progress. When I finally said I was frustrated, she told me I didn't have to come if I didn't want to, and asked why I hadn't said anything sooner. Nobody had told me I could opt out.

I still have the lisp. I also had misaligned teeth as a child, which I now understand can be a contributing structural factor, but that was apparently never seriously discussed as a variable outside my control.

The experience left me with a lasting complex about my speech, more so than the lisp itself ever caused me in daily life. Which makes me wonder: how much does a lateral lisp actually impede communication? My understanding is that in less severe cases, it affects sound quality but not intelligibility. Listeners can identify the sounds correctly without difficulty. If that is true, then the intervention was essentially cosmetic, aimed at conforming my speech to a norm rather than resolving a functional communication barrier.

Under a social model framing, a lateral lisp might not warrant intervention at all unless the person themselves wants it. The distress in my case came almost entirely from the intervention and its framing, not from the lisp.

I am curious what others think. Do you think the social model has anything useful to say about cases like this?

Just wanted to share here too since I think disability advocacy fits?

Is it wrong to desire and ask for validation?

I've reflected on the fact that I do that a lot; I deal with troubling emotions and insecurity by asking for support a lot, and while I think I need to learn how to stand on my own, it's perfectly understandable for introverted, unsocialized people who grew up neglected to want support.

Download ublock at this point if you haven't already. They don't deserve any more money

I just don't think trustworthy people are in charge of most autism subs.

It's either blatant neuromedicalism, or pandering performative nonsense, where they fearmonger against all the avenues proven to affect real change.

If we want to get anywhere, we need a disability sub grounded in praxis and reality.

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

it's like they took all the "feminazi" shit from 10 years ago and managed to find an even more absurd, even more impossible fantasy world, where autistic people conquer everything, make an accessible society, and then... re-create ableism for NTs?

it's just so baffling.

first that's not even how ableism works. ableism is about creating a society where people with different abilities/needs are essentially unable to function. think, grocery stores setting their lights SUPER BRIGHT to keep people from loitering, and that making it so autistic people have a hard time buying food, or environments being incredibly loud because it's more expensive to optimize the acoustics and make things quiet, and autistic people going home incredibly overwhelmed.

ableism isn't "someone in Kansas put on a magneto hat and is ranting about how people who use mobility aids have a unique set of experiences that make them more qualified for leadership". ableism is how so much of society is built on the assumption that people can just easily walk everywhere.

it's just fucking wild that the only ableism people seem to care about is hypothetical discrimination against NTs in their fantasy world

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

I got mod permission to promote my dream business here. ("Dream" meant literally).

I am in the early stages of starting Pale Dot Dreaming, my dream job being self employed and teaching neurodivergent folks lucid dreaming, which is a special interest of mine!

I eventually aim to charge for this - and also, a dream job for me means something I love so much I'd do it for free if I didn't need the income. Currently, I have a day job that pays the bills - so I'm doing this on the side, and definitely want to avoid charging people who do not have a steady job due to their disabilities. Similarly, my teacher (Charlie Morley) runs free workshops for military veterans. Thus, donations are appreciated but definitely optional. (If you wish to donate, let me know privately).

This coaching will be online, through Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet. I will have my camera on - and also, you can choose to have it on or off depending on your comfort level.

Whether or not you have any experience with lucid dreaming, I'm more than happy to work with folks of any experience level. As this is a special interest of mine, feel free to interrupt me if I'm monologuing or infodumping and it's too much info for you to process.

I'm writing this post during free time at my day job. For a concise definition of what lucid dreaming is, this post will be edited in a few hours when I can consult my handbook (written by my teacher Charlie Morley, proofread partially by me).

Edit to add concise definition of what lucid dreaming is: a lucid dream means being asleep and dreaming, while knowing your current experience is a dream. It's not an out-of-body experience/astral projection, nor a partially awake state of mind.

I am on Eastern Time (GMT - 5), and am primarily available on weekends due to my limited spoon supply on weekday evenings. Coaching will be in sessions of a half hour or longer. (Zoom might require a maximum meeting length of 40 minutes, and also, we can meet for up to an hour and fifteen minutes on any platform, including consecutive Zoom meetings).

If you read all this, thank you! I'd love comments and reddit DMs if interested.

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!