Two days after a stroke, a man lies in a hospital bed, thirsty, too warm, and wanting someone to call his daughter. He knows exactly what he means, but the words come out wrong, or barely at all. His wife works through a list of guesses (“Are you in pain? Is it the nurse? The blanket?”) while he shakes his head and tires. The same gap opens with aphasia, with slurred or very quiet speech, with a breathing tube, and late in illnesses such as ALS: the person has plenty to say and no easy way to say it.
A communication board for adults gives that person another way to answer: pictures and printed words to point to, with a helper who says each one out loud. This page offers four free boards to print from our book Communication Boards for Adults, no email required: a hospital board, a mealtime board, a small talk board, and a page for the person’s own photos. Below them: what a board is, how to use one, how to make your own, by hand or with our free online Communication Board Maker, when to involve the person’s speech-language pathologist, and what is in the full 112-board book.
Download the free communication boards
Download the PDFFour boards from Communication Boards for Adults, one from each of four sections: “Nurse, I need…” (Hospital and care, board 17 of 112), “Meals” (Daily living, board 55), “Small talk” (Conversation, board 85), and “My people” (Make it yours, board 97), a page of nine photo squares. Each picture board has nine pictures, and every page ends with a Yes, No, I don’t know, and Later strip. Free for personal, family, and care-program use.
Want all 112 boards?
Personal-use license. Buying for a team? Choose the clinic license on the set's page.
- Boards: 4 of the 112
- Sections: 4 of 5, one board each
- Squares: 9 per page
- Answer strip: Yes, No, I don’t know, Later
- Paper: US Letter, portrait
Need a board that is not in the free set? Our free Communication Board Maker builds one for the person in front of you: start from a ready-made template, change any square, add their own photos, and print it at true size on US Letter or A4. Free, with no account, and nothing leaves your device.
What is a communication board?
A communication board is a printed page of pictures and words that a person points to when speaking is hard. Speech-language pathologists call this low-tech AAC (augmentative and alternative communication): a printable communication board costs a sheet of paper, needs no batteries or charging, and works just as well at three in the morning. A picture communication board puts the printed word under every picture, so both people know exactly what was chosen, and a strip of Yes and No answers lets every choice be checked.
Some people call it a non-verbal communication board, but many adults who use one still have some speech. The board sits alongside that speech and gives the helper a short, fixed set of choices in place of a guessing game. Most adult communication boards fall into four kinds:
Essentials
The basic communication board: Yes and No, feelings, needs, a 0 to 10 pain scale, the alphabet, numbers, and the time and day. A yes no communication board is the first page to set up with anyone.
Hospital and care
Requests to the nurse, symptoms, positioning, medicines, the care team, and questions for the team. The free “Nurse, I need…” board comes from this section.
Daily living
Washing, dressing, the toilet, meals, drinks, home, shopping, and getting out. Choices in personal care, not only needs.
Conversation
People, feelings, opinions, small talk, memories, the phone, and appointments. A board is for company as well as care.
A fifth kind, the personal board, is made from the person’s own photos and words (see below).
How does a communication board work?
The person points; the helper says the word out loud and checks it. The book’s helper steps, every time:
Glasses and hearing aids first
Put them on before anything else, so the person can see the pictures clearly and hear your question.
Hold the board where they can see it
About 30 cm (12 inches) from their face, steady, and in good light.
Say the board title, then wait
Say the title out loud (“Nurse, I need…”) and wait while the person points. Pointing can be slow.
Say the word they pointed to
Read it out loud, even when the picture seems obvious, so the person hears what you understood.
Confirm with the Yes and No strip
Ask “Is that right?” and let them point to Yes or No at the bottom. If it is No, try again. Later means exactly that: come back to it.
Start with a simple nine-picture board, and move to its fuller partner board when pointing is easy. If pointing is hard, the book’s helper pages describe partner-assisted scanning: agree on a Yes signal such as a blink, a nod, a thumb up, or eyes up, then point along each row asking “This row?” and along the chosen row asking “This one?” Offer “None of these” at the end of every pass. For someone who cannot use a hand at all, hold the page at eye level between you and watch which quarter of it their eyes go to. For spelling with the eyes, the board maker has an E-Tran letter board, read through its open center.
How to make a communication board
A personal board covers what no ready-made board can. Start with photographs, as the book’s own tips suggest: on the free “My people” page, stick a photo in each of the nine squares and write the name on the line underneath, the way the person says it, such as “Nana” rather than “Margaret.” Photos of their home, a favorite place, or a pet work the same way.
Then add words no ready-made board has: a team, a church, a favorite program, a phrase they always used, their own words for pain. Good communication board pictures follow a few rules: one idea per square, a large picture with its word printed underneath, about nine choices to begin with, and Yes and No on every page. Write the person’s Yes and No signals at the front, so each new helper knows them. Finally, cut out a small set of communication cards for adults to carry in a bag or pocket, and laminate a board for the bedside.
Make one on screen: our free Communication Board Maker builds and prints a board for you. Start from one of ten templates, such as a quick board, a hospital bedside board, a pain board, aphasia core words, or an alphabet board, then change any square’s picture, word, or color, or put the person’s own photo on it. Boards print from your browser at true size on US Letter or A4, and a blank board is there for a page that is all the person’s own. It is free with no account, and the boards and photos stay on your device.
Communication boards for stroke, aphasia, and hospital stays
A stroke can make talking hard in more than one way. With dysarthria, the person knows exactly what they want to say, but weak or poorly coordinated speech muscles make the words slurred or faint; pointing to a picture, or to the first letter of a word on an alphabet board, can carry the message. A breathing tube, a tracheostomy, or the days after major surgery can take the voice away for a while, and a communication board for hospital patients covers the urgent requests. The board maker’s hospital bedside board and its four big choices for intensive care are ready to print. In the later stages of illnesses such as ALS or Parkinson’s, when speech and hand movement both become harder, partner-assisted scanning lets the person choose with a blink or a nod.
Aphasia is different, because it affects language itself: speaking, understanding, reading, and writing, in a different mix for every person. For many people with aphasia, pictures are easier than printed words, and spelling on an alphabet board can be hard. So a communication board for aphasia is best set up with the person’s speech-language pathologist, who can advise on which boards and how many pictures will suit them. Ask them too if Yes and No answers seem unreliable, if the person seems to point at random, or before a board is used for an important decision. The book’s Decisions board (“I need time,” “Explain again,” “Ask my family”) is there for those conversations. The board maker’s aphasia core words board is a starting point to adapt with the speech-language pathologist.
Tips for using a low-tech communication board
- Ask one question at a time. “A drink or the blanket?” is two questions. Ask one, then wait.
- Do not guess ahead. Let the person finish pointing. A confident wrong guess is hard to correct without words.
- Write key words down as you go. A short note (“wants Sam to call at six”) saves the person from repeating it for the next visitor or shift.
- Keep the board within reach. On the bed table, the wheelchair, or the kitchen table, open at the last board used. A board in a drawer cannot be pointed to.
- Talk to the adult, not the board. Use a normal voice and look at the person. Use the board to talk, never to test.
- Thank the person, every time. Pointing is work. A thank you shows the answer was heard.
Is a communication board speech therapy?
No. Speech therapy is planned and delivered by a speech-language pathologist, who assesses the person and decides what to work on. A communication board is a daily living aid: a way to get a message across today, using the pointing, gestures, and words the person has right now. Many people use a board alongside speech therapy, and the person’s speech-language pathologist can say how the two fit together.
Worth knowing: these boards are a communication aid for daily living. They are not speech therapy, an assessment, a treatment, or a medical device, and they make no claim to change speech or language. They do not replace advice from the person’s own healthcare team. In an emergency, call emergency services.
How the full book is organized
The full Communication Boards for Adults is 112 large-print boards on 120 pages, with the helper pages and an About me page at the front for the person’s name, language, and Yes and No signals.
| What you get | Free sample | Full set |
|---|---|---|
| Boards | 4 | 112, on 120 pages |
| Sections | One board from each of four | Essentials (16), Hospital and care (28), Daily living (28), Conversation (24), Make it yours (16) |
| Simple and fuller boards | Three simple boards | 42 topics as a nine-picture board facing a fuller one |
| Pain scale, body map, alphabet, numbers, and time | Not included | All in the Essentials section |
| Personal pages | My people | Photo pages, write-in boards, blank boards, and cut-out pocket boards |
| Helper pages | Summarized on this page | Pointing, partner-assisted scanning, and eye gaze |
| Paper sizes | US Letter | US Letter and A4 |
Who uses communication boards for adults
- Families and partners of adults after a stroke, in hospital and back at home
- Nurses and care aides on hospital wards, in intensive care, and in nursing homes
- Speech-language pathologists who want a printable board to leave at the bedside
- Occupational therapists working on washing, dressing, and meals with someone who cannot speak well right now
- Adults living with ALS, Parkinson’s, or a tracheostomy, and the people who help them
The free boards above come from the full Communication Boards for Adults: all 112 boards, the helper pages, and the photo, write-in, and pocket boards, in US Letter and A4. To build a board the book does not have, use the free Communication Board Maker. For conversation practice on paper, such as indirect requests and sarcasm, see our cognitive speech therapy activities for adults. If the writing hand was affected too, the guide to writing with the other hand after a stroke has free practice pages. Everything for communication is in the Communication collection.
These materials support everyday communication. They are not medical treatment or a medical device, and no specific therapeutic outcomes are claimed. If speech or understanding changes suddenly, get medical help right away.
