Thinking about "task interruption" and "transition warning" and "neutral third-party" and "unconscious conditioning" I've stumbled onto something that's been really helpful with our non-verbal child.
There will be times when he needs a diaper change but doesn't want a change. If I'm pretty sure he needs one but I ask him and he says no, I'll ask "do you need a timer?" and he'll respond affirmatively.
I'll say "Alexa, set a timer for x" where x is anywhere from 2 minutes all the way down to 2 seconds, depending on what his mood looks like, it he needs a cooldown or if he's already 99% ready to go.
When the timer goes off, he often hops right up and goes to his room. Sometimes I'll have to point out the timer has gone off, but then he's compliant and we'll go in and get the diaper taken care of. But because it's not me making the demand but Alexa, he can't fight or protest. (And he knows Alexa will just keep sounding the alarm without getting tired until we turn it off.)
(When we were recently on vacation, I didn't have Alexa and I had to mimic the Alexa voice and the doo doo doo sound myself but it still worked.)
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