EyeSay professional resource · v1.0 · 30 August 2026

Model with EyeSay — quick-start

A practical aided-language modelling guide for SLPs, educators, families and other communication partners.

Core principle: model on the same stable topology the communicator uses, without turning the model into a demand or into communicator-authored speech.

Four steps

  1. 01

    Use the communicator's map

    Model on the same stable Voice Canvas. EyeSay has 48 stable motor positions; 48 describes stable learned coordinates, not a 48-word vocabulary ceiling.

  2. 02

    Say it naturally

    Touch one or two useful words while you speak. You do not need to model every spoken word or turn ordinary interaction into a lesson.

  3. 03

    Model more than requests

    Demonstrate refusal, comments, questions, humour, social language, help and self-advocacy as well as requesting.

  4. 04

    Leave the response with them

    There is no requirement to imitate, answer, make eye contact or prove understanding. A partner model is a demonstration, not a target response.

Examples beyond requesting

Refusal and self-advocacy

Examples a partner might model include STOP, NO, DON'T WANT, BREAK and HELP. The example is the partner's demonstration; it does not assert what the communicator intends.

Comments

Model ordinary observations such as “GOOD,” “FUNNY,” “BIG,” or “I LIKE THAT” when they fit what you are saying. Comments are not limited to praise or requests.

Genuine questions

Model questions you genuinely want to ask, such as “WHERE?”, “WHO?”, “WHAT?” or “WHEN?”. Avoid quizzing for a known answer as proof of competence.

Social and routine language

Model language around play, shared routines, people, places, feelings and actions. Permanent positions stay in the same location across contexts.

Keep authorship explicit

Partner modelling is not communicator authorship. A partner's demonstration must remain technically and conceptually separate from the communicator's own utterance, speech history and selections. Suggestions are possibilities until the communicator deliberately selects them.

Evidence boundary

EyeSay is designed to support aided-language modelling as a communication-partner practice. This resource does not claim that modelling guarantees language development or any clinical outcome. EyeSay-specific effectiveness claims require EyeSay-specific evidence.

Pair this guide with the EyeSay low-tech board — stable motor topology. The board preserves the 8 × 6 Voice Canvas and permanent Agency Strip rather than inventing a separate paper layout.