Request what is out of sight

Why this matters

A strong step in communication is when the request comes from the learner's own motivation rather than from the sight of an object. The learner did not see the ice cream — they wanted it, picked up the tablet, came to another room and asked. This means the communicator has become a tool for expressing wishes, not a reaction to whatever is lying nearby.

How to introduce

1. 1Create situations where the desired thing is out of sight but familiar to the learner.
2. 2Support the path "wanted it → picked up the tablet → came over → asked".
3. 3Start with the most motivating requests — those the learner recalls most readily.

How to advance

Raise the difficulty gradually along two lines. First, move the desired thing further away: if it used to be in your hands, put it on the table; if it sat on a familiar shelf, move it into a cupboard, then half-close the door, then close it fully. Second, move the communicator further away: first it is next to the learner and the adult, then by the door of the room, then in the next room. That way the learner gradually loses visual control over the object and learns to ask from memory and desire. Once this works, move on to functional refusal.

Common mistakes

• Keeping everything in its usual place and never planning a gradual increase in difficulty: if objects sit on the same table for years, the "recall and ask" situation simply never arises.
• Keeping the communicator next to the adult all the time. Then the learner comes to ask without it. It is better to teach: wanted something — took the tablet along and came to the adult with it.
• Confusing this skill with an unavailable or forbidden card. The point is not "accepting that it is not allowed", but wanting an item that is physically out of sight (hidden, in another room, in a cupboard) and asking for it.

Examples

• The learner wanted ice cream while in their room. They are helped to take the tablet along and come to the kitchen with it — taught to arrive with the communicator, not without it.
• A favourite toy has moved from the table into a cupboard with the door half-closed: the learner cannot see it but remembers it and asks.