Visual choice boards

A visual choice board is a physical or digital display showing pictures or symbols of available options - activities, items, tasks, or people. The learner makes a selection by pointing, touching, or handing over the relevant symbol.

You use choice boards when a learner has limited verbal communication and struggles to express preferences, or when verbal offers of choice reliably result in conflict because the learner demands an unavailable option. By showing only what's actually available, you eliminate the negotiation. 'Here are the three things you can do right now' is cleaner and safer than an open-ended 'What do you want?'

For escape-maintained behaviour, choice boards provide control over which task comes first without letting the learner opt out of the demands entirely. For tangible-maintained behaviour, they prevent the problem of the learner asking for something you can't provide.

The most common mistake is using pictures the learner doesn't actually recognise or associate with the real item. The symbol only works as a choice if it clearly represents what it's supposed to represent. Test it with known highly-preferred items first. Another error is offering too many options - two to three is usually the upper limit for learners who struggle with decision-making.