Free

Picture AAC Boards You Can Personalize

Five boards for everyday communication, dressing, meals, play, and toileting. 18 shared words stay in the same cells on every board, and blank cells leave room for your child's own people, things, and interests. The caregiver guide is provided in US Letter and A4 formats.

What is included

  • Five boards, one per page: Everyday, Dressing, Meals, Play, and Toileting.
  • Four board PDFs: US Letter and A4, each in full color and low-ink.
  • A two-page caregiver guide, provided in US Letter and A4 formats.
  • 48 cells on every board: 18 shared core words in the same cells on every board, 25 everyday words (Everyday board) or 20 routine words (routine boards), and blank cells for people, objects, and interests (5 on the Everyday board, 10 on each routine board).
  • 119 original pictures drawn for AutismWhispers, each with a word label.
  • More than requesting: words for refusing, commenting, asking for help, greeting and taking turns, feelings, breaks, and discomfort sit alongside requests.

Previews

All five boards in full color (US Letter), plus the low-ink version. The core words stay in the same cells on every board; only the right side changes.

Everyday Communication Board: core words in the heavy frame on the left, everyday words on the right, and a row of blank cells at the bottom.
Everyday Communication Board
Dressing Routine Board: the same core words in the same cells, with dressing words such as shirt, pants, socks, shoes, coat, zipper, button, put on, take off, too tight, and itchy, and blank cells below.
Dressing Routine Board
Meals Routine Board: the same core words in the same cells, with meal words such as plate, bowl, cup, spoon, fork, apple, sandwich, cookie, hungry, full, hot, and cold, and blank cells below.
Meals Routine Board
Play Routine Board: the same core words in the same cells, with play words such as ball, blocks, book, music, puzzle, bubbles, swing, slide, dance, jump, my turn, and your turn, and blank cells below.
Play Routine Board
Toileting Routine Board: the same core words in the same cells, with bathroom words such as toilet, potty, step stool, toilet paper, wipe, flush, wash hands, soap, towel, pants down, pants up, wait, and I need to go, and blank cells below.
Toileting Routine Board
Low-ink version of the Everyday Communication Board: the same layout drawn in outlines only, with no colored fills, to save ink.
Low-ink version

Printing guidance

  • Choose US Letter or A4 to match your paper.
  • Print the boards landscape, at 100% or "actual size". Turn off "fit to page" so the pictures stay the size they were drawn.
  • Full color has the strongest outlines. The low-ink version uses outlines only and saves ink.
  • Matte paper reduces glare. Thicker paper or a plastic sleeve helps a board last.
  • Each board is a single page, so you can print only the ones you need. The caregiver guide prints in portrait.
  • If your child needs larger pictures, print on larger paper at a print shop and cover cells so fewer symbols show at once.
  • Fill blank cells by hand, with photos, or with your own pictures, and write the word under each one.

Using the boards

  • Offer, never require. Point to symbols while you speak, pause, and respond to speech, gestures, pointing, and other communication.
  • No forced imitation or hand guiding. Do not ask your child to copy you first, and do not physically guide your child's hand to a symbol.
  • Personalize with your child's team. These boards are a supplemental resource, not a complete individualized AAC system. Abstract symbols may need modeling.
  • Keep an existing AAC system. If your child already uses AAC, keep their familiar system, vocabulary, and layout.
  • Clinical review. These boards has not been clinically reviewed. They are printable only, with no sound or app, and they do not promise changes in speech, language, behavior, or development.

Who made them

Created by Chinaedu Okwumabua, an occupational therapy assistant with more than 20 years of experience supporting children with autism and developmental delays. These resources were not written by a speech-language pathologist. The pictures are original illustrations drawn for AutismWhispers. Free to download and print for personal, family, and classroom use. Please share this page rather than the files, and do not sell or repackage the pictures.

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This information is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for an individualized evaluation, medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment by a qualified professional such as a speech-language pathologist or occupational therapist.