Church communication board and visual schedule: free printable

Who it’s for

Children, teens and adults who use AAC, and their families, at services, children’s church and Sunday school, and at weddings, baptisms and funerals. A service asks a lot: sitting still, standing and sitting at the right times, quiet voices, singing, and many people close together. The board gives a way to join in, and to say what’s needed without a fuss.

How to use it

1. Go through page 2 at home before the visit: “First the car ride, then church. We say hello, then we sit with our family.”
2. Pack the quiet bag together, and tick each thing as it goes in.
3. Sit at the end of a row or near the back, so a break or the bathroom is easy.
4. Model the words during the service, whispering as you point: stand when everyone stands, sing for the songs, listen for the reading.
5. Answer a break or bathroom right away, and come back in when the person is ready.

For any place of worship

The pictures on this board are for a Christian church: a church with a steeple, a Bible with a cross, a pastor at the front. If your family goes to a mosque, a synagogue, a temple, a gurdwara or another place of worship, open the board with the “Edit this board in the free board maker” link above. Change pastor to the word you use, Bible to your holy book and church to your place of worship, and search the pictures or add a photo of your own. The talk words and the I need row work anywhere.

Sunday school and children’s church

In a children’s class, the board works best when the leader knows about it. Show it to them before the class, ask them to point to the words when they talk, and show them where the quiet bag is. Yes and no are on the board, so questions about the story can be answered. A copy can stay at church for next time.

What’s on the PDF

At church

• sing
• pray
• listen
• sit
• stand
• clap
• music
• Bible
• pastor
• candles
• friends
• my family

Talk

• hello
• shake hands
• hug
• thank you
• quiet voice
• wait
• yes
• no
• help
• I like it
• more
• all done

I need

• bathroom
• a drink
• snack
• a break
• fidget toy
• headphones

Going to church

• car ride
• church
• say hello
• sit with my family
• sing
• pray
• listen
• go home

In my quiet bag

• coloring book
• crayons
• book
• fidget toy
• snack
• teddy

Printing tips

• Keep one copy in the car and one in the church bag, so it’s never left at home.
• Glue a photo of your own church over step 2, and of the children’s leader on the back of page 1.
• For the holidays, the holiday communication board; for hellos and small talk, the greetings and conversation board; for a break, the calm down choices board.
• How to use a board: model, wait, answer works the same in a pew as at the kitchen table. For more on taking AAC out of the house, read AAC out and about.