Good news for those of you whose only method of communication involves tapping away on a phone. If you were worried that your constant texting was ruining your ability to write, a new study has found that there's really nothing to worry about.

For the first part of the study, researchers took a sample group of 86 Australian and 150 Canadian undergraduates and asked their opinions on when text speak and abbreviations were appropriate to use.

The study revealed how college students who used text messages as a way to communicate had no problem using proper spelling when the situation called for it. More from the Pacific Standard:
Participants in both countries (there were no significant difference between the Australian and Canadian samples) considered [textisms] most appropriate while texting a friend or a sibling, or during online chats with people in those categories. Few considered their usage appropriate when texting an older family member, and even fewer when communicating with a stranger.

That same pattern was found for emails. Regarding classwork, text-speak was considered moderately appropriate for use in lecture notes, but strictly off limits for assignments or exams.
So thanks to the human brain, you can safely switch from standard English to txt spk without sounding like an idiot.