Should You Remove That Button?

In general, you want the soundboard to be a stable place and you shouldn’t make changes unless you’ve thought them through first. But sometimes there’s a word on the board that you want to get rid of. Here’s how to figure out whether a button should stay or go.

First things first

If you want to remove a word because it’s being spammed or overused - don’t! We know things are difficult if you’re considering removing a button, but read our guides on spamming and food words instead.

Don’t pick up any button even for a short time because of overuse. The guides we’ve linked to will help you with that. Once your learner is using their buttons, it will be frustrating and upsetting to them to have a button taken away. They’re spamming the button because they have an unmet need and taking the button away doesn’t solve that problem. You’re only making them suffer their distress in silence. There might be reasons you need to remove buttons for safety reasons, when a chewy puppy is unsupervised for example, but please don’t do it for your own convenience.

With that caveat out of the way, let’s decide whether you should remove your word from the board.

Ask yourself these questions:

Does the word represent a concept that you don’t expect to be used very much, like “Ouch”?

Is it a word for something important, even if it doesn't appear very often in your learner’s world?

Are you fairly early in your teaching journey?

Is your learner quite young?

Did you make changes or go through a quiet spell recently?

Is this a word for something that’s a common, everyday or regular feature in your learner’s life?

How often are you modelling that word? Not at all, or not very much?

Do you use this word to tell your learner things, even if they don’t press the button themselves?

…if the answer to any of these questions is yes, then we’d advise you not to take up that button.

Button use changes over time and learners can not use words for months because they don’t feel the need to, then use them entirely appropriately. That’s especially true of learners that are still figuring out how buttons work, or have personalities that evolve as the grow or settle into a new home.

There are also some words that don’t have a lot of cause to be used, like body parts or pain words, but are great to have on your soundboard for when they are necessary.

Was it a no to all those questions? Then let’s look more closely at this word.

Has your learner never used or seemed to understand this word?

If this is a very recent addition (within a week or so) and your learner doesn’t seem to even realise it’s there yet - take it up if you think this was the wrong time or you’ve chosen the wrong word.

Consider your concept again, and add the better word when the time is right.

Has this word been available to them for at least a couple of months?

Understanding concepts and words can take time. Don’t keep taking buttons away if your learner doesn’t use them quickly. We tend to start with easy words and work up to more abstract concepts so just because your learner picked up “Ball” in a matter of days doesn’t mean they’ll get “Frustrated” in the same time period. Focus on your modelling and trust the process.

Is this word useful?

If this is a word that your learner has had no interest in for a long period of time, and you don’t feel there’s a need to use it when talking to your learner, it might be time to remove it.

Think carefully about all uses of the word, including its use in combination with other concepts.

It can be especially hard to think about that stage when you’re modelling single words, but your learner may well start using words in combination that they don’t press much or at all on their own.

Any word you’ve introduced that they understand is now part of their vocabulary - even if they don’t choose to use it right now, they could at another point, and will probably still want to hear it from you regularly.

Play is a common word that some learners don’t engage with often, but should stay on our boards because it represents a concept that’s central to our learners’ lives and is something that can be used in combination with lots of other words. “Play Treat” or “Play Food” is a common phrase used for puzzles for example, and you can say “Play Later” with buttons regardless of how your learner has asked to play. You might see these sorts of words called ‘core words’.

Bunny hardly engaged with the “Outside” button for the first few months. Some puppies press Outside day 1, but she didn’t want to use that button at all, even when she very clearly understood its meaning and was pressing lots of other buttons. Over a year on, she requests “Outside” using her buttons most of the time, including at night or when everyone is distracted. It took time and lots of modelling but is now one of the most valuable buttons.

Also consider that things may change in the future in ways you can’t anticipate. Bertie is a small dog who never drank to the bottom of his water dish, but once he had to go on a medication that made him drink a lot more water it was very good that it was already established on the board.

Is the button accessible?

Make sure that this isn’t a layout issue, not a word they don’t want to use.

It’s pretty common for learners to not like pressing buttons that are surrounded by others on all sides, or to prefer a certain way of walking across their board or pressing that means they prefer buttons in specific places. Is the button close to a wall or object, or do they need to have their back to you when they press it? These are all regular barriers to using buttons.

Is your word obsolete?

By that we mean, when you think about the word, can you still respond positively to the concept?

If you’ve moved to a new flat and there’s no balcony, then the Balcony button probably isn’t necessary. If your dog has a carrot allergy then the Carrot button might feel pointless.

Before you take that button away though, consider if your learner is using the word.

If they are using it to ask for the thing that they can no longer have, it’s better to keep that button available so that you are aware of what they want and you manage that desire by offering them reassurance and alternatives. Taking the button away risks frustration. Probably in time you’ll be able to pick that button up, but wait until it’s not been used for a while first. If your learner wants to spend the rest of their days asking for a Carrot they know they can’t have, then don’t silence them! Also consider that maybe the word “Carrot” could represent all vegetables and they might be happy with celery.

If your learner is using a redundant word in combination with others, or has given it a second meaning, don’t take it away. It’s not really redundant anymore. This is learner led communication and if a talking animal has generalised or repurposed a word, we think you should be impressed by their creativity and let them have their word!

A note about loss

We know nobody wants to think about the loss of a member of the household but if your learner has a name for someone who is no longer there (this needn’t be a death, maybe you broke up with your partner or a kid moved out of the house) don’t pick up that word. A number of teachers have reported that their learners want to talk about departed family members for months after the loss, just as we humans do. If it’s upsetting to you to hear that name over and over, of course factor your own mental health into the decision to keep or remove that name. But don’t default to picking up a name just because that individual is no longer around.

Lastly,

Might the button become meaningful again?

If the button is no longer pressed and no longer relevant to your household, then take it up.

Imagine the “Donkey” toy that had its own button met an unfortunate end. If you’re planning to replace Ellie the Elephant then leave the button down and get to the pet shop, otherwise take the button up.

If “Donkey” now means any soft toy with no squeak, then keep the button, because your learner has altered the concept behind that word.

When you remove a button, leave the space empty

We suggest you leave that spot blank for a while, at least a couple of weeks.

That will make sure that your learner doesn’t think any new button you put down represents the old word.

Keep watch for your learner trying to press the space where their button used to be - hopefully our guide has avoided you removing a word that your learner wanted to use, but if you do spot that happening, consider if there’s value in putting that button back, or if there’s a new word you can add to the board that will allow them to express the thought they were hoping to talk about with their now missing button.

Takeaway points

Don’t take away a button that has a meaningful use to your learner, or to you. Think carefully about the decision and observe your learner’s use for a while to check if your perception it’s not being used is correct.