Through pressing buttons of pre-programmed speech sounds or words, animal learners can share their requests, thoughts, and feelings. With time and patience, learners have been incredibly successful. Some have not only been able to communicate needs and wants, but also seem to relay more abstract concepts such as feelings or time.
FluentPet Sound Button are small, so even if you have dozens of words they don’t take up much space, and your learner can quickly move from one button to the other. Each button has the lightest possible touch mechanism, making them easy for even small learners to activate. Each FluentPet Sound Button can play back any sound you record into it.
To choose your words, pay attention to the things that motivate your learner. These may already be words they recognize (e.g., outside, play, cuddle). Once you select a word, use it repeatedly, in context without adding different conjugations. For example, to model ‘play’, when you’re about to play with your learner, say ‘Do you want to play? Ok let’s play! Play play play!’
After you’ve recorded your first button, ‘model’ the new word/phrase for your learner by (a) saying the word/phrase, then (b) pressing the corresponding button, and (c) either directing your learner’s attention to an object (‘ball!’) or engaging in the action you’ve just described.
