“The toy paused. Shall my story pause too?”
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: If brief adult story play is already welcome, use one adult-held familiar suitable toy or no object. Original adult seed: “My pretend toy was moving. Now it rests.” No child role, emotion or story knowledge is assigned; the adult does not move the real toy unless wanted.
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: Leave the story at that moment. A known continue/stop or own contribution can determine whether the adult tells one more event, changes the idea or stops. If no known message occurs, end the added story warmly; never call silence a chosen ending or an understood plot.
Three usable routes: (1) Adult-held item is a prop only; distinguish its actual stillness/movement from the narrated fiction. (2) Tell/sign the same two-event seed through established communication, following any known child contribution. (3) No prop/story wanted: stay with familiar company; no pretend participation is inferred.
Notice and next: Adult narration, actual toy action and any known child story contribution have different status. A known “more” may mean more interaction without selecting a particular fictional event. Next time use only what was presently welcome, not a test of remembering the story.
© 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.