What is it?
Choice-making means providing meaningful opportunities for learners to express preferences, make decisions, and influence what happens throughout the school day. Choices can range from selecting materials, topics, partners, or activities to deciding how to complete a task, communicate an idea, take a break, or demonstrate learning. Learners may express choices through speech, AAC, gestures, eye gaze, objects, symbols, movement, or other communication methods.
How to use it?
Offer choices that are authentic, understandable, and possible to honor. Present options in a format the learner can access and provide enough time to consider and communicate a response. Build choices into everyday classroom experiences rather than reserving them only for preferred activities or rewards. Avoid offering a choice when the outcome has already been decided, and recognize that declining, requesting something different, or choosing neither option can also communicate important information.
Why use it?
Having opportunities to make decisions supports autonomy, self-determination, communication, and engagement. Learners who require significant support can easily experience school days in which most decisions are made for them. Meaningful choice-making gives learners greater influence over their experiences and provides natural opportunities to communicate preferences, practice decision-making, and develop self-advocacy.
