Communication Boards for people with aphasia or apraxia

Communicate even when speaking is impossible  

It can be hard to care for someone if they can't communicate their needs, possibly due to aphasia or apraxia (difficulty with word-retrieval or speaking clearly). One caregiver brought her husband to the bathroom hourly because he could not  tell her when he "needed to go".

If the survivor can't speak, but they can point to a picture, this is a great way to understand their needs.

In these situations, speech therapists sometimes create a Communication Board with pictures the survivor can point to. You can print whole boards (below), or make your own board with the free pictures for therapy I wrote about.

Communication boards helped most survivors

Researchers taught survivors to use communication boards with the alphabet, words, and pictures. Before the study, 90% of participants had "poor communication". After learning to use the communication boards, 80% of participants had improved to either moderate or good communication patterns.

Printable communication board for people with Aphasia or Apraxia

This is a good starter board that covers the basics. You are welcome to print this board or modify my template. I made this with free pictures for speech therapy.

Can your suvivor recognize letters of the alphabet?
If so, maybe they can spell out words with alphabet tiles from a Scrabble game). That's much more flexible than a communication board.

Communication Boards

Emotions, physical needs, and food.

Communication Boards for hospitals

This set of boards is for inpatient stays at the hospital. These have pain scales, and decision-making, questions for doctors, and even "adjust my pillow.

Hospital communication boards

View all Picture Cards

Want to improve communication?