Action Project Update

Overall, my Action Project is going well. I have communicated with several people whose disabilities can affect communication, including some who are “selectively mute” related to autism, some who have other mental or neurological differences, and one who is nonspeaking for reasons they chose not to disclose. They have given me some information, typically on things which need to be included in the resource. I created an introduction, a few images which can be used for communication cards or boards, and three of the planned checklists. I have also spoken to several groups who will help distribute the resource, including one which is interested in creating second and later generation versions of this resource.

The biggest issue I am running into is the lack of formal resources addressing this issue which I have access to. Neurodivergentsexuality.tumblr.com is the only blog which directly addressed issues regarding consent for neurodivergent people, and it did not last very long. A new blog, ndsenseandsex.tumblr.com, was recently created to pick up on such issues, and I will be citing it as well as the short-lived (available to read but no longer updating, nor are moderators answering attempts to get into contact with them,) neurodivergentsexuality. Besides those two blogs, an ASAN created resource is the only place I have found anything on consent or sexuality directly addressing disabled people. Even the YAI resource I used for my viewpoint essay is directed towards professionals, as is the source they have specifically on determining consent. (I'd still like to see that resource, but it can not be acquired for free and their professional memberships are a bit out of budget to get ahold of a resource I expect to yell at.) The other issue I run into is the sheer scope of my project, which is compounded by the lack of resources in the general area of my project. I have a huge empty space, which I can not completely fill in a summer.

I mostly get around the sources issue by using less formal resources and by speaking to my actual target audience. I won't have as many “academic” citations as I might like, but I can still create a useful resource. For the scope issue, I am planning that my project this semester is simply a first generation resource and that the project will be continuing. I am also limiting the first generation resource to the introduction, communication, situational, and sensory checklists, and a small set (still larger than what I submit today) set of communication cards.

I still need to create a sensory checklist and expand the set of communication cards/boards, including the creation of cards to place in the blanks of the yellow cards. I also need to create reversed color sets in order to give access to people with certain kinds of visual/processing impairments. These are the things which I am considering to be part of the first generation resource and therefore still need to accomplish during the “this is my Action Project” phase.