Feelings charts for nonverbal and late-talking children: a practical guide

Last updated 2026-07-11

If your child can't say "I'm scared" or "my stomach hurts," a feelings chart gives her a way to point to it instead. Research on visual supports and augmentative communication shows picture-based tools cut down on frustration behaviors and help build emotional vocabulary. The trick is keeping it simple, making it personal, and using the same chart at home, in therapy, and at school.

A feelings chart pairs an emotion word with a face, color, body signal, or symbol so a child can point to how she feels rather than saying it out loud. For a child who is nonverbal, minimally verbal, or a late talker, that point counts as real communication. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association describes aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) as any system where a child uses an external tool to communicate ^[1], and a feelings chart is about the simplest entry point into that world. It doesn't ask for speech production, just the joint attention most children already have in some form.

Emotional communication is exactly where language and behavior tend to break down together. When a child can't say what's wrong, that information doesn't disappear, it comes out sideways, as a meltdown, a shutdown, or aggression. A 2019 study in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders found expressive language deficits were significantly associated with increased challenging behavior in autistic children, and that augmentative supports reduced those behaviors ^[2]. A chart won't replace speech therapy, but it gives a child a working channel right now, while the slower work of building language continues underneath it.

There's a motivational piece too. When a child successfully communicates something about how she feels, she gets a response, and that response reinforces the behavior. Do this enough times over a few weeks and the child learns that communication works at all, which is the foundation speech-language pathologists spend a lot of time trying to build.

Who actually benefits from one

Pretty much any child who feels more than she can say. Late talkers, usually toddlers between 18 and 30 months who produce fewer words than expected for their age, often live in that exact gap between feeling and saying ^[3]. A two-to-four face chart bridges it without overwhelming them. Autistic children often find naming emotions genuinely hard, and not just because of language: alexithymia, the difficulty identifying and describing your own feelings, affects roughly 50 percent of autistic individuals compared to about 10 percent of the general population ^[4]. A chart does double duty there, supporting expression while teaching emotion identification as its own skill.

Children with apraxia of speech want to communicate but struggle with the motor planning speech requires, so a chart lets them join emotional conversations without that demand. The same logic applies to children who use AAC devices as their main system: a feelings chart works as a low-tech backup or a stepping stone toward richer emotional vocabulary on the device. Kids with echolalia sometimes have sharp emotional awareness but express it through scripted phrases rather than direct labels, and a chart lets them point instead of hunting for the right script.

One caveat worth keeping in mind: a feelings chart is a tool, not an assessment. Accurate pointing doesn't prove a child holds the internal awareness the symbol represents, and refusing the chart doesn't mean she's less aware. Just watch what happens and mention it to your SLP.

The main types of charts

Format matters more than people expect.

For most toddlers and new AAC users, start with the two-to-four face version. Happy, sad, scared, and mad cover the bulk of what a young child needs to say, and keeping the choices few enough means she can actually use it under stress.

The Zones of Regulation, developed by occupational therapist Leah Kuypers and published in 2011, sorts emotional states into four color-coded zones: blue (low energy or sad), green (calm and ready), yellow (elevated or anxious), and red (intense or out of control) ^[5]. Schools lean on it heavily, and it suits children who have decent receptive language but shakier expressive skills. It also gives teachers and aides a shared vocabulary for discussing a child's state.

Photo-based charts don't get enough credit. A lot of kids with autism or significant delays don't automatically connect a cartoon face to their own experience, so a chart built from real photos, taken on a phone and printed, closes that gap fast. It takes maybe twenty minutes to put together and often outperforms a store-bought version from day one.

If your child already uses a speech-generating device or a PECS binder, build the feelings chart from the same symbol set, usually PCS or SymbolStix. Mixing symbol systems is one of the most common mistakes families make, and it just slows everyone down.

Putting one to actual use

Owning a chart and using one are two different things. A chart taped to the fridge does nothing by itself.

Introduce it during calm moments, not in the middle of a meltdown. Sit down at snack time and say, "Look, here's happy. Mom is happy because I love spending time with you," and point to the face. Keep it short, and do this daily for a couple of weeks before expecting your child to use it independently.

Then model it constantly. Research on aided language input shows children pick up AAC symbols faster when adults use those same symbols in their own communication ^[6]. When you're happy, point to happy. When you're tired, show it. This teaches your child that the chart is a real way to talk, not a worksheet.

Build it into transitions: arrivals, departures, before and after meals, bedtime. These are the highest-stakes emotional moments of the day, and they happen predictably enough to turn into a check-in routine.

Treat every point as genuine communication. If your child points to scared, stop what you're doing and say, "You're scared. Okay. I hear you. Let me help." Don't quiz her or second-guess the choice. Trust it, respond to it, and she'll learn that pointing works because of how you respond, not because she got the "right" answer.

Keep the chart within reach: eye level, in more than one room, in the school bag. A chart sitting in a drawer isn't doing anyone any good.

Making one yourself

You don't need to buy anything to get started. For toddlers and new users, print four simple face drawings (plenty of free emotion printables exist online), laminate them or slip them into a page protector, and tape them at the child's eye level with a single clear word under each one.

If your child does better with real photos, take pictures of her making each face, print them at 3x3 inches, laminate them, and stick a velcro dot on the back so they mount on a small felt board or sturdy cardstock. That whole project costs under five dollars and takes about thirty minutes.

For school-age kids using the Zones of Regulation, check with your school's SLP before buying the full curriculum: Leah Kuypers's official website has supplementary materials, and many school-based therapists already have templates they're happy to share.

A few practical notes. Lamination is worth it, since these charts live in high-touch spots and unlaminated paper tends to fall apart within days. A four-pack of laminating pouches runs about eight dollars, and velcro dots (about four dollars) make the chart modular so you can swap emotions in and out. Skip glossy photo paper if the chart will hang in a bright room, since glare makes it hard to read.

For a free starting point, ASHA's website and many state education department sites offer downloadable communication boards and visual supports at no cost ^[1].

How many emotions should a feelings chart include for a nonverbal child?

Less is more, almost every time.

For a child just starting any kind of visual communication, two feelings is the right number: happy and sad. Two choices give a real selection without swamping working memory. Once she reliably points to one or the other across contexts and days, add a third, whichever shows up most in her daily life: mad, scared, or tired.

For a child who uses a few words or approximations and is starting to build emotional vocabulary, four to six emotions fits. The standard early set is happy, sad, mad, scared, surprised, and tired.

For a school-age child working on nuance, eight to twelve emotions can work, introduced one at a time and taught explicitly rather than assumed to land on their own.

The urge to put thirty emotions on a chart is understandable, and it backfires. An overwhelmed child stops using the chart; a child with two clear options keeps going. Research on aided AAC vocabulary supports starting with high-frequency, high-relevance words and expanding from there ^[6]. Feelings charts run on the same rule.

A useful heuristic from experienced SLPs: add a new emotion only after the child has used the existing options spontaneously, without prompting, at least five times across different days. The number is rough, but it's a real signal that the child owns the current vocabulary before you widen it.

Do feelings charts work for autistic children specifically?

Yes, with a few things worth knowing first.

Many autistic children struggle to read emotions in faces, which matters before you invest heavily in cartoon face charts. A 2014 review in Autism Research found that emotion recognition from facial expressions is significantly harder for autistic individuals than for neurotypical peers, and the effect is larger for complex or ambiguous emotions than for basic ones ^[7]. A stylized cartoon face labeled "anxious" may simply not say what you think it says.

The approaches that tend to hold up better: photos of real people, especially the child herself; body-map charts that put feelings in the body rather than on a face ("my heart beats fast when I'm scared"); and color or symbol systems like the Zones of Regulation that skip facial expression altogether.

If your child is getting autism spectrum speech therapy, the SLP should be closely involved in picking and introducing the chart format. Consistency across therapy and home beats the choice of any specific chart. A child who sees the same symbol for "frustrated" in therapy, at school, and at home generalizes the concept far faster than one who meets three different pictures of the same feeling.

The Zones of Regulation has a solid evidence base in school settings for children on the spectrum ^[5]. It isn't the only option and isn't right for every child, but if your child's school already runs it, matching home use to the school system is probably the single highest-value move you can make.

How does a feelings chart connect to speech therapy goals?

A feelings chart fits inside two big areas of speech-language practice: social communication and AAC.

On the social communication side, commenting on your own internal state is a milestone in pragmatic language. ASHA's clinical practice framework for social communication names emotional expression and perspective-taking as core targets ^[1], and a feelings chart gives the child a concrete, measurable way to work toward them.

On the AAC side, a feelings chart is often a child's first taste of aided symbol use and of successful communication without speech. That experience builds communicative confidence, which sets the stage for more complex AAC systems. If you're considering or already using a speech-generating device, ask your SLP how the feelings vocabulary on the chart maps to the device's layout. They should match.

If your child doesn't have an SLP yet, early intervention services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C provide free speech-language evaluation and therapy for children under age three ^[8]. For children three and older, services move to Part B of IDEA through the school district. Not sure where to start? Find a certified SLP through ASHA's online directory.

A good speech therapist usually introduces a feelings chart as one part of a broader communication system, not a standalone gadget. If your child's therapist hasn't mentioned visual supports for emotional communication, ask directly. It's a reasonable, evidence-backed request.

What does the research say about visual supports for emotional communication?

The evidence base is genuinely solid, though most studies are small and run with autistic children rather than late talkers specifically.

A 2020 systematic review in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research found that aided AAC interventions, including picture-based boards, increased communication acts in minimally verbal autistic children, with most studies showing meaningful gains in as little as eight to twelve weeks of consistent use ^[9]. In that literature, "meaningful gains" means the child initiated more communication, responded more reliably, or produced more spontaneous utterances than at baseline.

The Zones of Regulation has been studied mostly in schools. A 2018 study in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders reported significant improvements in self-regulation and emotional awareness in autistic elementary-age students after ten weeks of explicit Zones instruction ^[5].

For late talkers without autism, the research thins out. Most late-talker studies track expressive vocabulary, not emotional communication. The reasonable read from the broader aided-AAC literature is that visual supports for emotion should work by similar mechanisms, but nobody has run large randomized trials on that exact population. The closest evidence is general research on visual schedules and visual supports for preschoolers, which consistently shows positive outcomes for communication and behavior ^[10].

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends developmental surveillance at every well-child visit and referral for evaluation when a child isn't meeting language milestones, and it supports augmentative communication tools that don't hinder speech development ^[11]. The worry that AAC or visual supports will stop a child from talking has no research behind it. The AAP's position is direct: AAC does not impede speech development and in many cases supports it.

How do you choose a feelings chart: buying vs. making vs. using an app?

The right call depends on your child's communication level, your budget, and what systems are already running.

Pre-made laminated feelings charts run roughly eight to twenty dollars. They're convenient and durable, but the faces and vocabulary are generic and may not match your child's system or level. If your child's school or SLP uses a specific symbol set, a generic purchased chart can create confusion instead of consistency.

DIY charts cost almost nothing with a printer at home, or about five to fifteen dollars to print and laminate at a copy shop. Photo-based DIY charts almost always beat cartoon charts for children who don't generalize from drawings. The time cost is real, roughly thirty to sixty minutes for a good result, but you end up with a tool built for your specific child.

Several apps include feelings boards and emotion-identification tools. They can help children already comfortable with tablets, but they add a device dependency and get harder to use in the exact emotional moments when the chart matters most. A laminated card on the wall never needs charging or unlocking.

For a structured, speech-integrated approach that pairs emotional vocabulary with broader language practice, tools like Little Words can sit alongside chart use at home and build the receptive vocabulary that makes the chart mean more. The chart itself, though, should stay low-tech and always in reach.

My short answer on spending: start with a free printable or a ten-dollar laminated chart from a teachers' supply store, and spend more only after you've established consistent use and want to expand or upgrade.

How do you use a feelings chart at school or with multiple caregivers?

Consistency across settings is where feelings charts live or die. A child who uses a chart at home but never sees it at school won't generalize the skill reliably, and a child who meets different charts with different symbols in different places is learning three things at once instead of one.

The fix is a single chart, or charts with identical symbols, in every setting: home, school, grandparents' house, therapy room, and the car (a small laminated card works fine). Share the chart's contents and the child's current emotional vocabulary with every caregiver and teacher. Write down which emotions she's working on and which she's mastered, and send that list along with the chart.

In school, the IEP is the vehicle for this. If your child has an Individualized Education Program under IDEA, the team can list visual supports for emotional communication in the communication goals or the supplementary aids and services section ^[8], which legally obligates the school to provide and use the chart consistently.

For children getting early intervention services at home, ask the service coordinator to write feelings chart use into the IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan) and to train every provider who works with the child.

One small thing helps across caregivers: a one-page reference sheet showing each symbol, the word, and a suggested adult response when the child points to it. It takes ten minutes to write and heads off the inconsistent responses that erode a child's trust in the tool.

Common questions about feelings charts

You can start a two-choice feelings chart, happy and sad, as early as 18 months. Most toddlers that age already have the joint attention and pointing skills a simple chart needs. What matters is matching the chart to your child's current communication level rather than her age: if your child is three but brand new to visual communication, you still start with just two options.

A common worry is that using a chart instead of words will make a child talk less. It won't. The American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that AAC tools, including picture-based supports, don't get in the way of speech and often help it along. Once a child has a channel that actually works, frustration drops and the drive to communicate grows, and that drive is what pushes speech forward too.

If your child ignores the chart entirely, look at how it was introduced. Charts that show up during a meltdown, sit outside the child's eye line, or offer too many choices tend to get ignored. Cut it back to two emotions, mount it right at eye level, and only bring it out during calm moments. Model it yourself daily and give it two or three weeks before deciding it isn't working.

The Zones of Regulation, a curriculum Leah Kuypers built in 2011, sorts emotional states into four color zones: blue, green, yellow, and red. It's designed for school-age kids with some receptive language who are working on self-regulation, and schools use it a lot, with solid evidence behind it for autistic elementary-age students. For toddlers or minimally verbal children just starting out with visual communication, though, it's not the right first step.

A feelings chart and an AAC device serve different purposes. The chart is low-tech, always within reach, and limited to emotional words. A device generates speech or uses symbols across a much wider range of topics. The two work well together: the chart can share symbols with the device, act as a backup when the device isn't handy, and give a child emotional vocabulary anywhere without having to dig through a menu.

Many nonverbal autistic children do learn to use a feelings chart on their own, given steady modeling and a chart that matches their level. Independence arrives at different speeds: some children point spontaneously within weeks, others need adult prompting for months before that fades. Independence isn't really the point, though. A prompted but accurate point still tells you something true about how your child feels, and that's a real communication win. Cartoon faces are often harder for autistic children to read than real photos, particularly for more complex emotions, based on research into autism and emotion recognition. Photos of the child herself, or color-based systems like the Zones of Regulation, tend to work better for autistic kids. Neurotypical late talkers usually do fine with simple cartoon faces. If you're not sure which way to go, try a real photo chart first.

To get a school on board with the same chart your child uses at home, ask for it to be written into the IEP under supplementary aids and services, or into the IFSP if your child is under three and in early intervention. Bring the actual chart to the meeting, hand out copies to every teacher and support staff member who'll work with your child, and include a one-page guide on how to prompt and respond to it. Under IDEA, this is a request schools are legally set up to support.

If your child points to the same emotion every time no matter the situation, it's worth paying attention to but not a reason to stop using the chart. Sometimes a child picks one option because it's the most familiar, because it reliably gets a reaction, or because she's still learning what the others mean. Keep modeling every emotion, watch whether that one choice is usually accurate, and mention the pattern to your SLP, who can help you figure out whether it's a vocabulary gap or a genuine preference.

Free chart resources aren't hard to find. ASHA's website has free communication board templates, many state education departments post free downloadable visual supports, and Teachers Pay Teachers has both free and paid versions. A quick image search for "feelings chart preschool printable" will turn up plenty of usable options. If your child already uses AAC, look for a chart that matches her existing symbol set.

A feelings chart can't take the place of speech therapy. It's a bridge, not a destination: it gives your child a way to communicate right now while therapy builds the language underneath. Any late talker or minimally verbal child should be evaluated by a certified SLP, and early intervention services are free for children under three under IDEA Part C, which makes that evaluation one of the highest-impact steps a parent can take.

Teaching a child what each face on the chart means works best in real moments. When she's visibly happy, walk over to the chart together and say, "You're happy! Here's happy." Do the same when she's sad or upset. Pause on emotional moments in books to point to the chart, and use your own face right next to the symbol. Genuine, repeated pairings like this teach the meaning much faster than any drill ever could.

After your child points to a feeling, stop what you're doing, make eye contact, name the feeling back, and respond to it: "You're mad. That makes sense. Let's see what we can do." Don't quiz her or rush to talk her out of the feeling. Your response is what teaches her that pointing actually gets somewhere. If the point seems off, you can gently offer another option: "Are you mad, or maybe frustrated? Here's frustrated."

Sources

1. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Augmentative and Alternative Communication: ASHA defines aided AAC as any system where a child uses an external tool to communicate, and lists visual supports as a core component of AAC practice.
2. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2019: Expressive language and challenging behavior in autism: Expressive language deficits were significantly associated with increased challenging behavior in autistic children, and augmentative supports reduced those behaviors.
3. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Late Language Emergence: ASHA defines late talkers as toddlers aged 18 to 30 months producing fewer words than expected for their age.
4. Frontiers in Psychology, 2018: Alexithymia prevalence in autism: Alexithymia affects roughly 50 percent of autistic individuals compared to approximately 10 percent in the general population.
5. Kuypers, L., The Zones of Regulation (2011); Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2018 study on Zones efficacy: A 2018 study found significant improvements in self-regulation and emotional awareness in autistic elementary-age students after ten weeks of explicit Zones of Regulation instruction.
6. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Aided Language Stimulation: Research on aided language input shows children learn to use AAC symbols faster when adults model use of the same symbols in their own communication.
7. Autism Research, 2014: Emotion recognition in autistic individuals, systematic review: Emotion recognition from facial expressions is significantly more difficult for autistic individuals than neurotypical peers, especially for complex or ambiguous emotions.
8. U.S. Department of Education, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): IDEA Part C provides free speech-language evaluation and therapy for children under age three; Part B covers children aged three and older through the school district.
9. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2020: Systematic review of aided AAC for minimally verbal autistic children: Aided AAC interventions were effective in increasing communication acts in minimally verbal autistic children, with most studies showing meaningful gains in 8 to 12 weeks of consistent use.
10. What Works Clearinghouse / Institute of Education Sciences: Visual Supports for autism spectrum disorder: Visual schedules and visual supports for preschoolers consistently show positive outcomes for communication and behavior in research reviews.
11. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), 2022 policy on AAC and speech development: The AAP states that AAC does not impede speech development and in many cases supports it, and recommends developmental surveillance at every well-child visit with referral if language milestones are not met.