Oliver is an AAC user, wheelchair rugby league player and history graduate from the UK. He uses AAC full time and recently started using eye gaze with his Grid Pad 13 and Evo eye tracker.
Oliver identifies as an asexual, non-binary trans man and shares openly online about disability, communication, mental health and inclusion. Oliver is autistic and has Tourette’s and schizoaffective disorder (bipolar type), alongside other disabilities.
In this interview, he talks about his AAC journey, how Tourette’s affects his daily life, the importance of accessibility and inclusion, and what he wishes more people understood about Tourette’s and neurodivergence.
Could you introduce yourself and tell us a little about who you are?
I’m Oliver, my pronouns are he/him. I identify as an asexual, non-binary trans man. I am disabled in various ways, including being neurodivergent and severely mentally ill. Last year I graduated with a history degree from the Open University. I play wheelchair rugby league for Salford RLFC. I love history, especially the Tudor period, disability history and LGBTQIA history. I have two cats, they are named Seymour and Aragon, named after two of Henry VIII wives!
I love building Lego and other models, I also write a lot of poetry and blog posts.
Can you share how Tourette’s affects your communication, mobility and daily life?
I have constant vocal tics. These stop me from being able to communicate with mouth words. Tourette’s is one of three reasons why I use AAC full-time and why I have recently started using eye gaze.
My feet and leg tics mean that I can’t walk or properly stand up. I use an active user manual wheelchair full-time due to the tics. My tics affect my mobility with severe pain, running into roads, falling, walking on the sides of my feet, etc.
My Tourette’s also affects all areas of my life. For example, I need full support whilst showering; I can’t cook at all as the tics mean I injure myself or drop food, etc. I can’t use breakables, sharp objects or hot things due to my motor tics. I can’t go out alone partly due to my Tourette’s.
I have episodes called tic attacks, which kind of present like stereotypical seizures but are due to Tourette’s, these can last hours and days. My Tourette’s affects every area of my life.
What do you wish more people understood about Tourette’s?
Tourette’s is a complex neurological condition.
People think that Tourette’s is just about swearing. In reality, only around 10-15% with Tourette’s have swearing tics. However, for those of us with swearing and offensive language and gesture tics, they can severely affect our lives.
Tourette’s can be very disabling.
Having Tourette’s can often come with other disabilities such as ADHD and OCD.
Having Tourette’s can bring about unwanted attention, such as bullying, people staring and laughing and more.
Tourette’s can bring chronic pain and injuries with it.
Tourette’s is not a joke and those of us with it are not laughing stocks.
What do you wish more people understood about disability and neurodivergence?
Disability
Every disabled person is different.
All disabilities are valid.
Being disabled isn’t bad or wrong.
People can have more than one disability or condition. I, for example, am physically disabled and neurodivergent, which includes severe mental illnesses.
Neurodivergence (ND)
Neurodivergent conditions are more than just autism and ADHD. It includes conditions such as dyslexia, Tourette’s, Irlen syndrome, mental illnesses and more.
Being ND is disabling for many ND people.
Being ND is not a bad thing.
Most ND people are ND in more than one way.
What does meaningful accessibility and inclusion look like to you?
The first thing I want people to understand about accessibility is that nothing or nowhere is “fully accessible”. It is important to acknowledge this. Access needs can and do clash. My own access needs clash. That doesn’t mean to just stop trying, though.
For accessibility to be inclusive, it needs to involve a variety of different disabled people with varying disabilities and access needs. Don’t just talk to me as a manual wheelchair user about physical access to a building. Ask people who use different mobility aids, ask blind people, etc. Access can only be as inclusive as possible when everyone is listened to.
It’s also important that people and places listen to feedback and take it on board, even if it means being called out.
In the past, I have called out situations where my Tourette’s became a joke and entertainment for others. One group told me I was being too sensitive and made me feel like the problem instead of admitting they were wrong. Another group apologized, asked how they could do better and acknowledged that they were in the wrong. The first group I stopped engaging with because I didn’t feel safe. The second group I still attend because I feel like they care.
What role has wheelchair rugby league played in your life?
I got involved with wheelchair rugby league back in 2023. The word “league” is really important to include, as wheelchair rugby is a completely different sport.
I remember catching a bit of wheelchair rugby league on the TV a few years ago. This got me researching the sport. I also discovered that the sport is really trans inclusive.
I started with the Salford team at their very first training session. The people involved are really supportive and caring. I am accepted as a trans person, and the fact that I am non-speaking doesn’t make my teammates and coaches think less of me.
The sport is one of the most important things in my life. I call it life-saving, which some people think is dramatic or over the top. Yet it’s the truth.
As a severely mentally ill person, I have struggled over the years with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Wheelchair rugby league has, on more than one occasion, stopped me from attempting suicide. So for me, it really is a lifeline.
I have made friends, and I absolutely love the sport. Being a trans wheelchair user who is also non-speaking, I resigned myself to never finding a sport and people who were accepting of all of me.
You recently graduated with a degree in history – congratulations! What inspired you to study history, and what did that achievement mean to you personally?
I studied history because it’s something I love and feel incredibly passionate about. I’m autistic, and from around the age of six or seven I became fascinated by the saying, “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.” From that moment, I fell in love with history, especially the Tudor period. I’m also now really passionate about LGBTQIA+ history and disability history.
Getting my history degree was an amazing achievement. I had to drop out of studying at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and then spent a decade completing my degree through the Open University, including six years of active study. Throughout that time, I was sectioned several times, battled to get care hours, and faced increasing challenges with my disabilities, requiring more support and disability aids. So when I finally graduated, it felt like a huge achievement.
Continue reading Oliver’s story
Oliver also shares more about his AAC journey, using eye gaze with his Grid Pad 13, and the role communication and community have played in his life.
You can also read our Pride Month feature with Oliver, where he reflects on identity, self-expression and being an LGBTQIA+ AAC user. Or, you can learn more about Oliver in his blogs and poems on The Tudors make me tic.