Mentos This or That Activity

photo by u/masonmus or Reddit retrieved on 3/10/2021

As a speech therapist, I'm always looking for fun and engaging activities to practice augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) with my students.  One of my kids is really good at requesting on his device.  I've been trying to expand that to commenting, asking questions, and expressing opinions.  Well, I happened to know that my student likes mints (actually all candy), so I keep a few hidden stashes of candy around my office (just in case).  Well, sure enough, my student independently requested "candy" with his communication device.  So I modeled back, "Can I have candy?" and told him that if he wants something from someone else, that he could always ask them.  I didn't make him create the phrase on his device.  I just modeled it and gave him the candy.  It's a good reminder that AAC doesn't have to be a demanding activity.  It wasn't intended to be a reward rather it was a shared moment.  We both popped in a Mentos. Actually, it was rather matter of fact.  Remember, it should be relaxed and engaging and fun. 

So, I opened up a new pack of Mentos that I had grabbed the day before at the drug store.  I opened it up and as I was handing it to him, I noticed that there was writing on the Mentos.  It had two little icons and the words HOTEL or CAMP.  Then I looked at the package and realized that I had purchased a special kind of Mentos called THIS or THAT.  Hmm.  That quickly became a teachable moment.  While I don't like to give out a lot of candy to my students, I thought that this could be a fun add-in to our session.  Whenever he asked me (never prompted), we followed it up with a THIS or THAT question/topic.  It was a great way to express preferences, likes and dislikes, and opinions.  A skillful speech therapist would piggyback on those two words and talk more about their choice.  Expand their expression.  Ask questions.  Describe.  Talk about other types of candy.  I even started a log of the choices so that I can prepare some fill-in-the-blank writing activities prior to our speech therapy sessions.

The THIS or THAT Mentos are printed with two choices. These were the ones that we uncovered (and ate) so far:

• HOTEL or CAMP ("Do you like it? I like it. Camping is _________. Where did you go"?)
• RELAX or WORKOUT ("I like to run. What do you like?  Exercise is _____________.")
• CAT or DOG ("What do you like? Do you have a pet?  Dogs are _____________.")
• COFFEE or TEA (I like coffee. Do you? What do you like? I don't like __________.  Coffee is ________"

You get the idea.  What could you say with core vocabulary words with some of the others?

• MOVIE or MUSIC
• BOWLING or KARAOKE
• MINT or FRUIT
• BOARD or VIDEO (games)
• BEACH or MOUNTAIN
• GUITAR or DRUMS

So remember: AAC is not always about requesting.  There are so many other communicative functions that we can work on including refusing/rejecting, making comments, asking questions, expressing opinions, describing, providing information, and more.