I Need a Break! Break Cards for Students with Limited Speech

Once you have created your lovely schedules for your students and you have yous lesson plans all ready to go, all of you students with sit down follow the schedule and have no behavior challenges throughout the entire school day.

WRONG.

Behavior challenges will occur even with super structure and organization.  The more consistent you are in providing the right routines, then those behavior will be minimized. But what if a student wants to take a break and they have no words?  What will they do?  They will get up, they will make a game of it, they will fall to the floor, they may hit, they may throw things, they may put their head down.  Then list is endless.

If you want to create a voice for a student who may not yet have speech or who may not always be able to pull out the words they want to say, try using break cards.  With a break card, the student can tell the adult "I need  a break."

Only one type of card is need.  Just choose the one you prefer. There is also a "working for" card in where the student can earn a certain amount of "tokens" in order to earn the break. They can be laminated and used for the entire school year.