Mom’s practical and meaningful tattoo helps her communicate with 11-year-old son with autism
FREDERICTON, NB —
Jess Fletcher describes her 11-year-old son Hunter as a “little jokester” who loves swimming, baseball and building marble runs.
“He loves to swim. That’s one of his passions. He goes swimming almost every day,” Fletcher said. “Even in the winter, we go to the indoor pool every day.”
He also has autism. Hunter was diagnosed when he was 3 years old and is non-speaking.
“Hunter doesn’t speak at all, so he uses an AAC device and a little bit of sign language,” she said. “A little bit of gestures, a lot of body language.”
That can sometimes make communicating a challenge. But the Canadian mom found a creative solution during a time when her son’s AAC device — a tablet that has special speech-generating programming — wasn’t working.
Here’s how the idea came about – and how it has helped their bond grow even stronger.
The keyboard was Hunter’s idea
Hunter and his mom were getting breakfast at a restaurant a few months ago when his AAC device died before they could order. Fletcher improvised.
“He couldn’t tell me what he wanted to eat. So I asked the waitress if she would mind bringing me a piece of paper and a pen,” she said. “And I started writing the alphabet, because his teacher has an alphabet poster in her class, and I’ve seen him point to letters to spell things before. So I wrote the alphabet on a piece of paper.
“Well, he got mad at me, flipped it over, and started writing Q-W-E-R-T-Y. So I helped him finish. Like, it was clear as day: He was making a keyboard.”
Using the makeshift keyboard drawn on paper, Hunter told his mom he wanted sausage for breakfast.
That moment eventually ignited the idea for the tattoo, which she got in June.
Jess Fletcher’s keyboard tattoo
“I thought, how do I make this super, super accessible, the most accessible form of communication he could possibly have?” she said. “And then that popped into my head: A tattoo.”
Opening a door for more discreet communication
A few weeks later, she found a tattoo artist who was able to do the tattoo on short notice, and even provided a discount for the cause.
Fletcher said she began to notice a change in how he communicated to her, with Hunter even being more affectionate at times.
“Having something that’s quiet that he can talk to me almost in secret gives him more autonomy as an individual,” she said.
While the AAC device is Hunter’s preferred communication method, it’s not always the most convenient — or private.
In public places, Hunter now has a discreet way of saying he needs to use the bathroom. His device would announce it to the room.
Hunter Fletcher using his mom’s tattoo to communicate
“Since I’ve gotten the tattoo, he’s always grabbing my arm and touching me,” Fletcher said. “He’s definitely been a lot more affectionate. I’ve been getting a lot more hugs, and he uses the ‘I love You’ button a lot, which is pretty sweet because he didn’t say it on his AAC device that often. But he’s saying a lot now with my tattoo.”
The tattoo has also gotten a lot of attention on her Facebook page, where she posts updates about Hunter. One particular video about the tattoo on the Hunter’s Voice page has gotten more than 100 million video views.
How the tattoo is inspiring other ideas
While her tattoo is a lifelong commitment, others have asked if they could make temporary tattoos with the keyboard, and shirts and sports sleeves with a keyboard printed on them as a way to communicate with others who are neurodivergent. They’re both projects that Fletcher is currently working on.
“A lot of teachers, resource teachers, nurses and first responders have reached out looking for these,” Fletcher said.
Want more content like this? Subscribe to our News We Love newsletter here.
