About this activity
Eight phrases a teenager needs to get through an outing without a parent speaking for them: One large iced coffee, please. Where's the fitting room? How much is this? I'd like to pay with card. Two tickets, please. Is this bus going downtown? The set is short on purpose — these are the exchanges that repeat every time, and pre-storing them is what makes an independent trip possible.
How to use it in a session
Rehearse in the room, then leave the room. Run the phrases as a script first, then role-play with someone who will respond unhelpfully — asks a follow-up, talks too fast, looks at the aide instead of the student. Can you hold this while I get my wallet? is the one worth drilling most, because it is the phrase that keeps a counter interaction from collapsing into someone else handling it. Then go somewhere and buy something. Fifteen minutes of practice and one real coffee is a better session than three rehearsals.
What to listen for
Watch who the clerk talks to. Much of what breaks down in community access is not the student's message but the partner's habit of redirecting to the adult, and the student needs a way to pull the conversation back. Notice whether the student initiates or waits to be prompted, and whether the phrase comes out before or after the silence gets awkward. Speed matters more here than anywhere else.
Carrying it home
Pick one errand a week where the teenager orders, pays, and asks the question. Families often do the talking to keep the line moving, which is understandable and is exactly the practice that gets lost. Standing back for ninety seconds is the whole intervention.
Questions
- What age range is this for?
- Seventh through twelfth grade, and it maps directly onto transition planning goals around community participation and independent living.
- Can I use it without signing up?
- Yes. The board plays in full with no account and no card.
- Should the student memorize these or store them?
- Store them. Community exchanges are timed by the person behind you in line, and a pre-stored phrase is the difference between ordering and being ordered for.