Honoring Requests
When your child is working hard to learn how to use their voice (by speaking, signing or using AAC), it is highly reinforcing to honor their requests. You won’t be able to do it every time, but shoot for a 90% ‘yes’ rate at the beginning so your child will know you understand what they are requesting.
At this stage of Mikey’s communication, he had one button on his ipad that voiced, “may I please have” and then buttons for various things he might want. So, this request, voiced by his iPad as a complete sentence required only two buttons for Mikey.
Still, he asked – so we honored the request.
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About the Author
Erica Mauro is a mom to two teenage boys, Will who is neurotypical and Michael with Autism and cognitive delays. She holds a BA in Psychology from Colgate University and a Masters of Psychology in Education from Columbia Teacher’s College. Before staying home with her children, she worked as an elementary school teacher. For five years, she served on the Board of Directors of the Molly Ann Tango Memorial Foundation, a charity dedicated to enriching the lives of children with special needs. In partnership with her husband Dave, she aspires to parent by using daily life as an opportunity for therapeutic intervention, seizing on real experiences as opportunities to build skills and strategies for Michael in a joyful, loving home environment. On the tougher early days, she just tried to get everyone safely to bedtime and start fresh in the morning. *wink* 
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