Online communication

Also called Messaging and social media for AAC users, Digital communication

Online, nobody hears your speech and nobody watches you type. For many AAC users it is the fairest room there is. Here is how to use it safely.

What it is

Online communication is messaging, email, social media, forums, video calls with chat, and the comment section under everything. For a person who uses AAC it has a quality no other setting has: the reader cannot tell how long the message took. A sentence that took three minutes to build arrives looking exactly like one that took three seconds.

That is why so many non-speaking people describe the internet as the first place they were treated as an equal. It is also why online safety for AAC users needs to be about access as much as about danger.

Who it can help

Anyone who uses AAC, text-based or symbol-based, from about the age at which any child goes online. Adults with a learning disability who have been kept off the internet "for their own safety", and the people supporting them. Families trying to find the line between protection and control.

It is not a replacement for face-to-face communication and the entry does not pretend it is. It is an addition, and often the one that gives a person a social life.

How it works

Text goes straight from a device into a message: most AAC apps have a share or copy button, and typing systems with word prediction work in a messaging app as they do anywhere. Symbol users need a bridge: either the device converts symbols to text, or a partner types what the person built. Voice notes and video calls let a speech-generating device be heard directly.

Safety works the same way for everyone, with two extras. First, a person who communicates slowly cannot easily say "stop" mid-conversation, so blocking and reporting need to be one tap away and practised. Second, a person who has always been spoken for may not have been taught what a private message is, what a scam looks like, or that they can say no online; see saying no. Teaching that is protection. Confiscating the tablet is not.

Under the Mental Capacity Act, an adult who can understand these risks decides for themselves. See mental capacity act and communication.

Getting started

This week, set up one messaging app with one trusted contact and send a message. Make sure the person can find the send, block and report buttons without help.

Add the words the person will need: hello, bye, lol, no, stop, later, and the names of the people they will message. Emoji are vocabulary; put them on the board.

Agree the rules together, in the person's words and on their system, rather than imposing them. "I don't send photos to people I haven't met" is a sentence a person can own. Then give them privacy. Reading someone's messages is a decision that needs a reason.

Where to get help

AbilityNet advises on making devices and apps accessible. Mencap has plain-language resources on staying safe online. National Autistic Society covers online life for autistic people. Communication Matters runs a community where AAC users talk to each other, which is the best answer to "is anyone else like me out there".