“In your story, what happens because of that?”
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: No materials. Original optional adult seed: “A pretend creature taps its imaginary drum. Something changes.” This is not a real instrument, sound, animal fact, cultural role or assigned emotion. A familiar adult-held suitable toy may represent a creature only if the child chooses that meaning.
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
Play and choice: Leave the consequence open. The child might choose imaginary snow, the drum becoming a boat, nothing happening, a different action or no story. Follow one clearly communicated meaning. Do not supply a menu of model answers before an own response unless help is requested. Real stillness can accompany any fictional event.
Three routes: (1) Child communicates or plays one own fictional consequence with no required physical imitation. (2) Child directs a willing adult's narration/gesture; adult enactment stays attributed. (3) No object/story contribution: imagine privately, use established communication or decline; no observed creation is inferred.
Notice/next/stop: Fiction can break physical expectations; do not call the narrated event measured cause/effect. Name whose idea it was when known. Next time continue the child's particular consequence if wanted, or begin a fresh event with no recall demand. Stop immediately if the seed is unwelcome.
© 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.