May 29, 2023

Life as a Black Deaf Autistic musician, AAC user and student -- with Kaishawna

Kaishawna is a 21 year old Deaf Black Autistic woman, clarinet player and college student who is studying to become an educator for neurodivergent and disabled students. She communicates using an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)...

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Beyond 6 Seconds

Kaishawna is a 21 year old Deaf Black Autistic woman, clarinet player and college student who is studying to become an educator for neurodivergent and disabled students. She communicates using an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) text-to-speech app on her iPad, sign language, and sometimes unreliable vocal speech. She is a disability advocate and aspiring author who is working on two novels that feature disabled main characters.

During this episode, Kaishawna discusses:

  • Her experiences using AAC to communicate with others
  • How she experiences playing music as a Deaf Autistic musician, and her love of music theory
  • How she found out she was autistic, and how that led her to become involved with disability rights advocacy
  • The difficulty she had finding community as a Deaf Black Autistic woman, and the racism and ableism she faces
  • What she hopes to teach her students as an educator
  • The two novels she is currently working on

Follow Kaishawna on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Watch the video of this interview on YouTube.

Read the episode transcript.

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