“Turning off my voice was empowering. I wasn’t struggling to communicate. I would show my message, and people understood that they needed to accommodate me. We wouldn’t go back and forth multiple times trying to understand each other. When people realized they couldn’t speak back to me, they were quick in taking out a pen and paper to write, phones to type, or even using gestures to point. It made communication quick and efficient but most importantly, it let people know that I need an accommodation.”