Something happened out on my trundle today which I think would be worth recording here. I was over in Canary Wharf. I like variety, and so try to trundle somewhere different every day. Today I was exploring the Isle of Dogs when, going down a small backstreet, I came across a very unusual car: it had a large can of Red Bull attached to its roof, obviously some kind of advert. There were a young man and women standing next to it, so I decided to stop and jokingly ask them to swap vehicles.

I was in my powerchair of course, my hand firmly on its control, so I elected to make the joke offer using my natural voice rather than stopping to type it into my iPad. As a communication aid user, people sometimes seem to forget that I still have the option of speaking with my natural voice, especially around people who know me well. It’s sometimes easier just to try to say something rather than type it. I have heard that kids who are first starting to use communication aids sometimes need reassuring that it’s all right to still use their natural voices if they want, and that they aren’t breaking the rules of communication aid use in doing so. Yet I have often found that using a combination of whichever method seems right at the time is best, particularly when dealing with a metropolis of eight million people.

Truth be told, I wasn’t really expecting the people to understand what I was saying or get my gag, but I made the effort to pronounce the short words as clearly as I could, and to my surprise got a response. We then had a conversation, albeit a short one, without me using my iPad. It must have been the first time in quite a while that I have had such an exchange with a complete stranger without typing anything.

I must admit that this short incident made me feel quite pleased. These days when I meet people, I usually expect to have to use my iPad for them get them to understand what I’m telling them. Vocalising things isn’t always easy, and I often have to say and resay what I want before I get myself understood. Passing people and just talking to them only using my voice thus feels rather refreshing: knowing I can still make people understand me is quite a confidence boost, and it certainly makes a change from needing to type everything.