Me

[swagittarius]

Thanks Liz

[swagittarius]

After several tattoo shops refused to take me due to liability reasons I found a place that would.This is my first tattoo. It's a communication chart that myself and others use to spell out my words when I speak. The vowels are separated from the consonants, which are arranged in order of their frequency of usage in the English language, and then grouped.

[janewheeler]

Ha! That's pretty awesome -- best communication chart I've seen Looks nice and crisp, too!

Have you always used a chart?

[lavly]

that's so tight !!! the best tat ever!

[Emma]

What a great idea since you'll always have it with you. Can you describe how you use it? I only know communication systems for kids with autism and the kids I know could never use something with just letters like that.

[Deleted]

Looks really cool....yeah, I agree with Emma...an explanation would be wonderful!

[Deleted]

Looks well done. It IS crisp. I'm also curious about how this works.

Oh and, Great smile, glasses, and tats? Whoa. =)

[Kid A]

Are you sure you don't work at Ritual in the Mission?

I approve.

[swagittarius]

Hey guys! Thanks for the compliments. Here's how the letter chart tattooed on my arm works:

First, I say a word.
Then, you guess what I'm trying to say.
I will confirm if you're correct by nodding yes or no.
If you guess wrong after a couple tries, then you ask me to spell the word.
I begin speaking the letters out loud and confirming your guesses, just as before with the words.
But, if after a couple tries you can't guess the letter, then you use the letter chart.
First, you ask if its a vowel.
If I nod yes then you list off the individual vowels until I nod yes.
If I shake my head no, then you list off the groupings of consonants until I nod yes.
Then you list off the consonants in that particular group until I nod yes.
Then you repeat the process until we've deduced the spelling of an entire word, and eventually constructed a whole sentence.

I know it sounds very complicated in theory, but after you pick up the idea behind the system and begin to train you ear to hear the subtle nuances in my voice, then we can chat rather fluently, fumbling out sentences at little over half the speed it would take other people. A lot of my friends and family have this chart memorized in their head, so we can chat on the go.

[Emma]

Wow, that's super interesting. I had never heard of anything like that but it sounds like it works well for you. Thanks for the explanation.

[Gaby]

That's very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

[old_dumb_grid]

One of the most practical tattoos I've ever seen! Like it

[Kid A]

I like that "pb" gets its own group . . . because everyone knows peanut butter rules.

[Inigo Montoya]

Jun 17, 2012 5:20:16 GMT -5 Kid A said:

I like that "pb" gets its own group . . . because everyone knows peanut butter rules.

Lol, yeah!!! ;D

[swagittarius]

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