Requesting and Protesting: Making a case for "I DON'T want"

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A post shared by Halle Demchuk, MSc(A), SLP (@haepislp)

"I want" is a necessary phrase to know, but it's often drilled into our AAC users in a way that results in them learning that AAC is only for requesting and not for anything else, like negating or protesting.

In this post, I wanted to show how we can and should work on requesting while including protesting. I also wanted to illustrate that this can be worked on naturally, even with an AAC user virtually over Zoom!

We played a Boom Cards game where we opened presents and decided if he wanted what was inside, or didn't want it. I also modelled other words throughout the game. I use an iPad Pro whenever I am modelling over Zoom because of its larger size (remember, his screen would be split to show me and the iPad on one half, and the game on the other).

The takeaway: "I want" is still a useful and functional phrase, but it shouldn't be your sole focus. It should be introduced alongside a way to protest, too!