Yes and no board: free printable with cards

How to use a yes and no board

1. Ask about one thing. “Do you want juice?” works. “Juice or milk?” can’t be answered with yes or no; a choice board is the tool for that.
2. Hold the board still. Keep it at the person’s eye level, with yes on the same side every time.
3. Wait. Count to ten in your head before you ask again. Some people need longer to answer.
4. Do what the answer says. When a “no” is listened to, the person sees that the board works.
5. Check when you’re not sure. Ask it the other way round: “No juice?” If the answers don’t match, leave it and ask again later.

If the person can’t point

Hold the big board up between you, so the person can see both answers. Ask your question, then watch where their eyes go and stay. Say what you saw: “You looked at yes. Yes, juice.”

Some people answer with a touch, a kick, a blink or a sound instead. Any clear signal that the person can repeat will do. Write it down, so everyone who helps them uses the same one. For a hospital stay, the patient communication board has yes, no and I don’t know across the top, and a box to write in what the person’s yes and no look like.

What’s on the PDF

• yes
• no
• I don’t know
• wait
• stop

Page 1 is the big board. Page 2 has 20 cards: yes and no with a picture, yes and no with only a check or a cross, two I don’t know cards, wait and stop. I don’t know and stop are real answers too, so treat them like any other answer.

Making the cards last

• Print on card stock, and laminate the sheet before you cut out the cards.
• Punch a hole in a corner and keep a yes and a no on a key ring or a lanyard.
• Tape a pair to a wheelchair tray, a high chair or a bedside table, so they are always in the same place.
• Teens and adults often prefer the check-and-cross cards, which have no cartoon child in them.