Thanksgiving communication board: free AAC printable

Who it’s for

Children and adults who use pictures or a speech device to talk, at a family Thanksgiving, a school feast or a community dinner. A holiday meal is long, loud and full of people, and the everyday board may not have Grandma or sweet potato on it. This one does.

How to use it

1. Look at it before the day. Talk about who will be there and what you’ll eat. Cross out the foods your family won’t have.
2. Put it at the person’s place, next to the plate, not in a bag. A laminated board wipes clean after the gravy.
3. Point while you serve. “Do you want turkey? More mashed potatoes?” Then wait for the answer.
4. Tell the family how it works, in one sentence: “She’ll point to answer, so give her a moment.”
5. Answer too loud and I need a break straight away. Pick a quiet room before the guests arrive.

A turn to say thanks

At many Thanksgiving tables, everyone takes a turn to say what they’re thankful for. It goes fast, and a person who uses AAC is easy to skip. Get ready the day before: choose one or two thankful cards together and put them in the boxes on page 2. When the turn comes, the person points to I’m thankful for and then to the cards, or holds up the page, and the table waits for them like for everyone else. Glue a photo of a person, a pet or a place on a blank card, or write on the line when no card says it.

When the house is full

A long meal with lots of voices is hard work for many people, with or without speech. The Family time row lets the person choose how to say hello: a hug, a high five or just hi. At the table, cut it up, a drink and I don’t like it save a lot of guessing. Leaving the table for a break isn’t rude, and a person who comes back calm gets to enjoy the pie.

What’s on the board

At the table

• please
• thank you
• more
• all done
• yes
• no
• help
• a drink
• cut it up
• I don’t like it
• too loud
• I need a break

Food

• turkey
• ham
• mashed potatoes
• sweet potato
• green beans
• corn
• mac and cheese
• salad
• bread
• pie
• ice cream
• water

Family time

• hi
• hug
• high five
• Grandma
• Grandpa
• cousins

The thankful cards on page 2: my family, my friends, my pet, my home, food, my teacher, my toys, books, music and my talker, plus two blank cards.

Printing tips

• Laminate page 1, or slide it into a sheet protector, and wipe it clean after the meal.
• Glue photos of your own family over Grandma, Grandpa and cousins, or write their names under them.
• Print an extra copy of page 2, so brothers, sisters and cousins can make thankful cards too.
• For everyday meals, use the mealtime communication board. For December, there’s a holiday board for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year, and for the end of October, a Halloween board for trick-or-treating.