“I stopped.”
Stop first: Stop the added offer immediately for a known no/stop, discomfort, withdrawal of interest or uncertainty. Keep ordinary care and usual supports available; no repeated signal, clearer reply or restart is owed.
Setup and free swap: Use a small familiar adult action already welcome, such as gently moving an adult-held suitable play item. No new greeting/reveal is introduced. A quiet spoken story action, or no added action, can replace an object display.
Common agreement for every route
Use an awake, comfortable, wanted moment in the child's usual supported setting with a familiar caring adult. Keep the child's body and usual communication/supports as they are. Do not manufacture distress, withhold a comfort item or necessary help, reposition the child, guide their body, demand eye contact, lure reaching/tracking, test hearing, or ask for touch/speech/imitating to make the offer work.
An optional object is one existing large, intact, familiar, non-powered play item already judged appropriate for this individual child and setting under its actual instructions, age labelling, condition and current recall information. “Large” alone is no safety clearance. No object is required. No small loose pieces, detachable parts, food, water, tools, tight lids, bags, cords, magnets, batteries, foam, glass, raised ramps, lights, covering faces or surprise reveals are introduced. No child handling of paper; any print stays adult-held away from mouth/reach. Adults maintain normal supervision and unobstructed access. These offers certify no material or setup.
Use known home words, established signs/AAC and family-informed supports. A competent familiar speaker may use their own language; this pack supplies no translation, invented gesture dictionary, cultural story or First Nations language claim. The adult can speak, sign/communicate through established supports, act silently if accessible, or stay quietly available. Quiet does not remove usual communication access.
Stop rule: respond to a known no/stop, discomfort, withdrawal of interest or uncertainty by stopping the added offer and returning to ordinary familiar care/play. Never keep testing until a clearer answer appears. No new touch, sound or movement is used to obtain evidence. A restart needs current willingness. Necessary routine transitions remain adult responsibilities, with a familiar explanation; child participation is not required for tidying or ending care.
If this contribution is wanted
Offer and child control: If an established stop/no occurs, stop your action immediately and name your own response once if helpful. This offer starts from respecting an actual message, not creating an action until the child stops it. If the message is uncertain, pause anyway and retain uncertainty.
Three usable routes: (1) Stop the actual adult-held item movement; leave the child's ordinary play/support unchanged. (2) Stop a welcomed adult spoken/signed story contribution through the family's usual communication; no sound needed. (3) With no object or additional contribution, honour an already occurring end of interaction and remain available.
Notice and next: Adult stopping is evidence of adult responsiveness. A known child stop may be recorded separately; an uncertain movement is not relabelled a stop message. Do not ask for another signal to restart. Another time, offer only what present comfort and known communication support.
© NeuroForgeIO Pty Ltd 2026 · SubjectNest, Tiny actions, meaningful answers · v0.1.0. Original computer-assisted teaching/text/layout CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . No family trial or agency approval claimed.