What Types of Words Should Be on a Communication Board?

Communication boards have written words and pictures which help people with a communication impairment effectively communicate with others. The pictures and words generally refer to personal needs, emotional needs, objects or activities, and may contain words that are common or specific to individual needs. They are used in a variety of settings, such as nursing homes, hospitals or schools. Examples of conditions that lead to communication impairment are Parkinson's disease, stroke, ventilator dependence, hearing loss or autism.

Words for Personal Needs

• Examples of personal needs, also known as activities of daily living, include dressing, bathing, meals and toileting. Words for articles of clothing are socks, shoes, underpants, shirt, sweater, coat and pants. For bathing, words could include shower, bath, bed bath, wash hair, too hot, too cold and towel. The words toilet or bathroom would be used to communicate toileting needs. For meals, words to communicate food needs would include any food or drink items available to the person, such as coffee, snack, milk or spaghetti.

Words for Emotional Needs

• The pain scale often includes pictures of facial expressions.

  Words which express emotional needs are feelings such as happy, sad, angry or worried. They might also refer to relationships such as family, pastor, husband, partner or daughter. Words regarding pain, such as sharp, dull, change position or medication, are an important part of communication boards for hospital or nursing home patients. These types of boards would also include the universal one to ten scale used for pain assessment.

Words for Objects

• Communication boards can also incorporate the alphabet.

  Communication boards include objects pertinent to each individual. For example, a child's board would have toys, books, TV or teddy bear, and an elderly person would more likely use words such as walker, pillow, newspaper, hearing aid or glasses.

Words for Activities

• To communicate about activities, a communication board might have words such as walk, sleep, shop, bingo, watch TV or play game. Communication boards would be customized to reflect the activities most important to each individual person.