The student chooses the desired food by touching one of the samples, by looking or facial gesture, by starting to eat, by vocal sounds and-or body movements, by signing or in any way indicating his or her preference. If the student reaches for both, or neither, the teacher must repeat the previous procedure, and reinforce that the student must choose one sample. The teacher must acknowledge any form of communication. If the student repeatedly reaches for both, he should be given some of each for lunch. Components of everyday routines should be utilized to establish correspondence between words and their meanings.
Routines enable students to take an active part in the activity and to communicate with the teacher.
The staff signs finished for the undesired plate and moves the student through the sign finished and prompts the student to move the plate away. Initially, the student may require the teacher to move his hands for him. Subsequently, the teacher and the student should cooperatively move their hands together, the student's hands riding on top of the teacher's. The teacher should pause in the pushing action, and allow the student to communicate a desire to continue by moving the teacher's hands. In addition to establishing correspondence between words and their meanings, the process of systematically using routines in the choice-making process must be established.