Hi, my name is Himani. I am 13 years old. I live in Fremont, California. I am in seventh grade. I attend California Virtual Academies, which is an online public school. My favorite subjects are English and Science. My hobbies are listening to Bollywood songs, reading books, swimming and hiking.
I am a nonspeaking autistic girl. I use Accent 1000 with Unity 84 sequenced. I have been using my Accent device for over a year now. Prior to that, I was using Proloquo2Go and Proloquo4Text. I received my first communication device at the age of nine. I did not have a reliable means to communicate before that, which was very frustrating. Even after receiving my communication device, I struggled to use it appropriately for the first couple of years. It was during the pandemic, when I started learning online with my teacher Miss Kate, that I started communicating independently by typing in May 2020. In January 2021, I started using Accent 1000 with Unity 84 sequenced. I like using both the icons and keyboard to compose my messages, as it helps me communicate effectively. I refer to my communication device as my talker.
My talker plays a very important role in my online schooling. I can connect my talker to my school laptop, which helps me use the chat feature during live classes, thus giving me the opportunity to interact with my teachers and classmates, and actively participate in classroom discussions. I use Notebook to write my essays. This also gives me the opportunity to share my essay with my class. I use the calculator in my talker to work on Math problems, which is very helpful. I also use the Notebook to give my presentation on being an AAC user to my classmates.
Every year in October, during AAC Awareness Month, I share my experiences of being an AAC user with my peers in my general education classroom. My teachers Mr. and Mrs. Deans have been very supportive and always encourage me to actively participate in class.
In 2021, I received the Heumann-Armstrong award for Education Activism. https://www.equalopportunitiesforstudents.org/index.php/himani-hitendra/
I was honored to receive this award from Ms. Judy Heumann and Mr. Elijah Armstrong, who are strong advocates, and leaders of disability rights.
My teacher Miss Kate Ahern has been instrumental in helping me be an advocate. She unlocked my potential, and showed me the power of communication. I am also grateful to have Lydia Dawley as my AAC mentor to guide and support me.
I hope to connect with other AAC users in my role as a PRC Ambassador, so that I can share my experiences as well as learn from them.
