Harry Oliver
@harryoliver.bsky.social
Behaviour science, stats
Hiking, analogue photography, specialty coffee, BSL & AAC user, AuDHD, weegie
He/him
Hiking, analogue photography, specialty coffee, BSL & AAC user, AuDHD, weegie
He/him
With BSL, the interpreter is a human.
With AAC, the interpreter is a piece of tech.
With AAC, the interpreter is a piece of tech.
October 31, 2025 at 1:26 PM
With BSL, the interpreter is a human.
With AAC, the interpreter is a piece of tech.
With AAC, the interpreter is a piece of tech.
This is a world away from what I experience communicating in BSL.
#1 Signing is so expressive I can show heaps of personality otherwise wiped/sanitised by AAC.
#2 People see me as a person communicating when signing and not as a piece of technology that doesn’t involve the same connection.
#1 Signing is so expressive I can show heaps of personality otherwise wiped/sanitised by AAC.
#2 People see me as a person communicating when signing and not as a piece of technology that doesn’t involve the same connection.
October 31, 2025 at 1:25 PM
This is a world away from what I experience communicating in BSL.
#1 Signing is so expressive I can show heaps of personality otherwise wiped/sanitised by AAC.
#2 People see me as a person communicating when signing and not as a piece of technology that doesn’t involve the same connection.
#1 Signing is so expressive I can show heaps of personality otherwise wiped/sanitised by AAC.
#2 People see me as a person communicating when signing and not as a piece of technology that doesn’t involve the same connection.
#2 People don’t often engage with me the way they do with Jordyn in this video. They often receive and interact with my AAC as if there is no person behind it. I.e., I am text to be skim read; I am text-to-speech to hear the text without due attention (often while focusing on something else).
Introduction for new followers: I mostly share on education, accessible technology, and disability. A few months ago, I was grateful to share a piece of my story on CBS Mornings. 1/2
Nonspeaking autistic woman embarks on journey to advocate for disability rights
At 29 years old, Jordyn Zimmerman is autistic and nonspeaking but she's making her voice heard on some of the most prestigious stages. Jamie Wax sat down with Zimmerman in her first broadcast televisi...
www.cbsnews.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:22 PM
#2 People don’t often engage with me the way they do with Jordyn in this video. They often receive and interact with my AAC as if there is no person behind it. I.e., I am text to be skim read; I am text-to-speech to hear the text without due attention (often while focusing on something else).
Communicating through a rigid, limited template that doesn’t let my whole expression come out feels, at best, stifling. At worst, a barrier I don’t have the energy to overcome so I just don’t share my hilarious anecdote, my view on the topic, or order than extra side I want before the waiter’s gone.
October 31, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Communicating through a rigid, limited template that doesn’t let my whole expression come out feels, at best, stifling. At worst, a barrier I don’t have the energy to overcome so I just don’t share my hilarious anecdote, my view on the topic, or order than extra side I want before the waiter’s gone.
#1 Fully participating and feeling a sense of belonging in fast-paced conversations just isn’t possible with existing AAC for me. I want to communicate in my idiosyncratic language and for you to see my personality in how I communicate.
Beyond requesting: AAC "must be about enabling connection, opportunities, learning, & access to community. This shift can only happen if people who need or use AAC co-design innovation rather than passively receiving its byproducts." @jordynbzim.bsky.social:
publications.ici.umn.edu/impact/38-2/...
publications.ici.umn.edu/impact/38-2/...
40 Big Ideas | Volume 38, Number 2 | 15. Augmentative and Alternative Communication Pushing Boundaries
publications.ici.umn.edu
October 31, 2025 at 1:13 PM
#1 Fully participating and feeling a sense of belonging in fast-paced conversations just isn’t possible with existing AAC for me. I want to communicate in my idiosyncratic language and for you to see my personality in how I communicate.
Reposted by Harry Oliver
The Disability Price Tag report of 2024 by Scope (updated annually) put the current extra cost per month on average for a disabled household at £1010. PER MONTH. And our Labour government wants to slash the support money people are offered?
March 11, 2025 at 7:01 PM
The Disability Price Tag report of 2024 by Scope (updated annually) put the current extra cost per month on average for a disabled household at £1010. PER MONTH. And our Labour government wants to slash the support money people are offered?
Reposted by Harry Oliver
For last year, the DWP release figures that there was 0% fraud for PIP, so the announcement that they're going to make PIP harder to get is just admitting they are restricting it from people who could and should be in receipt of PIP.
March 11, 2025 at 7:00 PM
For last year, the DWP release figures that there was 0% fraud for PIP, so the announcement that they're going to make PIP harder to get is just admitting they are restricting it from people who could and should be in receipt of PIP.
Reposted by Harry Oliver
And here are some analog photographers I dig. Because film photography is gorgeous and good for the soul. #BelieveInFilm go.bsky.app/2tD9vhT
November 30, 2024 at 2:54 AM
And here are some analog photographers I dig. Because film photography is gorgeous and good for the soul. #BelieveInFilm go.bsky.app/2tD9vhT