About this episode

This episode discusses the impact of constant prompting on AAC learners and how it can hinder authentic communication.

In this episode, we're talking about something so many of us were taught to do with the best of intentions, but that can quietly work against us: prompting. Because when nearly every interaction becomes a question, a direction, or a cue, communication can actually shrink instead of grow. I'll walk you through what happens when a child learns that communication only ever shows up after an adult prompts them, and how that can lead to waiting, shorter responses, or disengaging altogether. This conversation explores the difference between testing and communicating, why processing time matters so much, and the simple, doable shifts that help authentic communication flourish in real preschool classrooms and homes. We'll talk about: ● what prompt dependence actually is ● why constant prompting can feel exhausting for autistic children ● the difference between testing a skill and true communication ● why so many of our interactions quietly become tests ● what happens for AAC users under constant prompting ● five simple shifts that invite communication instead of demanding it Because communication is something we build together, not something we pull out of children. In This Episode…

People in this episode

Host: Tara Phillips

Topics covered

• prompt dependence
• communication
• AAC users
• autistic children
• communication fatigue
• preschool classrooms

Keywords

• prompting
• communication
• AAC
• autism
• engagement
• responses
• processing time
• testing skills

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