Want and Need Communication Board
Practice requesting wants and needs with symbols.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Model in the moment rather than at a table. More at snack, open at a door, break when the work is hard — the word attached to the situation is learned far faster than the word on a card. Stop and break are the two worth prioritising, because they are the messages whose absence usually gets expressed as behaviour instead. Ten minutes on the board, then a session of modelling.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentSet up the moment, then wait with an expectant look for 10 seconds.Log as correct
- GesturePoint toward the device or the right area of the page.Log as cued
- ModelTouch the symbols on the device yourself while you say the message.Log as cued
- Partial physicalOnly if the team agrees and the student accepts touch: a light touch at the elbow toward the page. Never press the symbol for them.Log as cued
Adjust it
Fewer symbols on the page, and model the message several times before you expect it.
Wait longer before prompting, or expect one more symbol in the message.
Matching IEP goal
During structured activities, Student will use their AAC system to make a request in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a gestural prompt.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Fourteen symbols for the requests that fill a day: I want, I need, more, all done, help, break, eat, drink, bathroom, my turn, stop, go, different, open. Requesting is where most AAC use begins, for the obvious reason that it produces an immediate and visible result — and this set covers most of what a young student needs before any topic vocabulary is added.
What to listen for
Watch for break and stop being used before the difficulty rather than after it. A student who requests a break when already overwhelmed has the vocabulary and not the timing, and the timing is the target. Notice different, which is a refinement rather than a request and is often the last of these to appear.
Carrying it home
Families can create the opportunities without adding any work. A preferred item in sight and out of reach, a container that needs opening, an activity that pauses — each one makes a request necessary rather than optional.
What's in this activity
- I want
- I need
- more
- all done
- help
- break
- eat
- drink
- bathroom
- my turn
- stop
- go
- different
- open
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Kindergarten through fifth grade, and any emergent AAC user building a requesting vocabulary.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all fourteen symbols play with no account.
- Which symbol should be easiest to reach?
- Help, break and stop. Those are the messages whose absence produces a real problem, so they should be one hit from wherever the student usually is on the system.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.