Throwback Thursday: I Am Not A Mindreader (And Neither Are You)

This is for all of the parents who think "We really don't need AAC at home, because I can tell what he wants to say" or "I can understand about half of her words, and when she combines them with gestures I get the main idea." 

This is for the teachers/staff who think "She's vocalizing so much! I don't want to encourage the device when she's trying to talk instead" and "He's so communicative---he'll grab our hands and point to the paint and that's a pretty clear way of saying 'let's paint', so we can leave the talker off to the side."

You are selling these kids short when you do that. You are predicting that they are trying to say something simple (let's paint) instead of something complicated (your hands can reach the paint but not mine-it's too high!). 

We are not mindreaders. This throwback post explores this point:

I Am Not A Mindreader (And Neither Are You)