Toolkit Picture and word communication board
Picture and word communication board
Say what you need with pictures and words, even when speaking is hard or tiring.
Everything you type or save here stays in this browser on this device. Neuro-Common does not receive it. Clearing your browser data removes it, so copy or print anything you want to keep. Back up or delete your saved tool data.
How to use it
- Pick a board: Everyday words, Needs right now, Feelings, Talking with people, Body and pain, Sensory, Food and drink, or Places.
- Tap a tile. It is added to your message at the top, and it is said out loud. Tap more tiles to build a longer message, such as I, Want, Water.
- Press Say it to speak the whole message. Press Show large to show the message in big type for someone to read. Remove last and Clear fix mistakes.
- Open Options to make the tiles bigger or smaller, to switch the pictures off, or to add tiles to the message without speaking them.
- On My board, make tiles of your own. Type the words, pick a picture or add a photo, and choose what is said out loud. You can also copy any ready-made tile into My board.
- Press Print this board to print the board you are looking at, for a wall, a bag or a binder.
Good to know
- This is a simple tool, not a full AAC system. People who rely on AAC for much of their communication usually work with a speech-language pathologist to find a system that fits them. A dedicated app or device may suit them better. This board can still be useful as a backup, or for the moments when speaking becomes hard.
- Speech uses the voice and speed chosen in the Listen controls at the top of the page. It comes from your device. If your browser cannot speak, the message still shows on the screen.
- The pictures are standard emoji, so they look a little different on each device. Every tile also has words, so a board still works if a picture does not show.
- Photos are shrunk and kept only on this device. They are never uploaded.
- The ready-made boards are starting points. The words on them are plain and common, but every person needs different words, so build My board for your own life.
- For an emergency, use your local emergency number, not this tool.
Where this comes from
- Picture and word boards are a form of AAC (augmentative and alternative communication). The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association lists communication boards and books as low-tech AAC, and says that using AAC does not affect motivation to use natural speech and can help improve it: ASHA Practice Portal: Augmentative and Alternative Communication
- The autism guide: communication, empathy, and AAC
- The developmental language disorder guide
- The sensory processing differences guide
More tools
General support only. These tools are not medical, legal or diagnostic advice, and they do not replace professional help. If you are in crisis, go to Crisis help.