How do you teach yes and no to an autistic child?

Start with questions about pictures your child already knows, like “Is this a dog?”, and give them a clear way to answer: a YES and NO card to touch, a nod or a sign. Ask a yes and a no question about the same picture, mix the order, model the answer during teaching and fade that help over the next turns.

What are good yes or no questions for preschoolers?

Simple ones about familiar things: “Is this a banana?”, “Is a bed for sleeping in?”, “Can a fish swim?”. Avoid questions where the answer depends on your child, like “Do you drink milk?”: not every child does. Silly ones with an obvious no, like “Do you eat a shoe?” or “Do you wear a sock on your head?”, are a good way in.

My child says yes to everything. What should I do?

It is common. Ask a no question about a picture your child knows well, keep your face and voice neutral, and mix yes and no answers in no fixed order. Using the YES and NO cards can make the choice clearer than a spoken answer.

Is answering “Do you want juice?” the same skill?

No. That is yes or no to an offer, based on what your child wants right now. These packs practice yes or no about facts and what things are, and they don’t check offers. Ask your child’s speech therapist or BCBA how to practice accepting and refusing.

My child doesn’t speak yet. Can they still answer yes/no questions?

Yes. Pointing to or handing you a card, nodding or shaking their head, or signing all count. Pick one way and count that one during the check.

Can I use these with a speech and language therapist or speech pathologist?

Yes. In the UK, share the pack with your child’s speech and language therapist (SLT) or the school’s SENCo, so home and school ask the same questions in the same way. In Australia, your speech pathologist, often funded through the NDIS, can tell you which response form to count. The pages print at fit to page on A4.

Free printables

Yes/no questions for speech therapy and home: free picture pages with YES and NO cards

These picture pages let your child answer “Is this a dog?” without saying a word. Each round shows one large picture with a big YES card and NO card beside it. You read the question from the adult guide, and your child points to YES or NO, nods or shakes their head, signs or says it. There are two free packs: one with “Is this a...?” questions about single pictures, and one with everyday facts like “Do you eat a shoe?”. Each has 6 practice rounds, 6 check rounds, cut-out YES and NO cards and a practice log, for autistic children, preschoolers and children with developmental delay.

By Ab Advany, founder of SuperChild · Published November 5, 2026 · Updated November 7, 2026

Free download

Get the 2 packs as PDF

Three quick answers and the PDFs open right here.

Free yes/no questions printable for speech therapy: the cover, and a practice page with a dog and an apple, each next to green YES and red NO answer cards

What counts as a yes or no answer?

In these yes/no question worksheets, any clear yes or no counts: pointing to or handing you the YES or NO card, nodding or shaking the head, signing, or saying the word. Decide before you start which response you will count, and count only that one during the check, so the answers stay comparable.

If your child usually points to cards, don’t switch to expecting a spoken “no” halfway through.

The cards are big on purpose, with a green check on YES and a red cross on NO. Cut out a pair and keep it on the table during practice. For a child who doesn’t talk yet, a card they can touch is often the clearest way to say no.

Yes/no questions list, with answers

These yes/no questions are the exact questions from the adult guides, with the expected answer next to each one. The answers are mixed on purpose, so a child who always says yes gets half of them wrong. Every question is about a familiar picture, and none depends on your child’s own habits or tastes.

“Is this a...?” practice rounds

Is this a dog?yes
Is this a banana?no
Is this a car?yes
Is this a fish?no
Is this a book?yes
Is this a hat?no

“Is this a...?” check rounds

Is this a cow?no
Is this a banana?yes
Is this a spoon?no
Is this a cow?yes
Is this a bike?no
Is this a fish?yes

Everyday Facts practice rounds

Do you eat a shoe?no
Is a bed for sleeping in?yes
Can a fish swim?yes
Do you wear a banana?no
Does a cow say moo?yes
Can a car fly?no

Everyday Facts check rounds

Is a banana yellow?yes
Do you eat a book?no
Is a chair for sitting on?yes
Is a ball for eating?no
Can a duck swim?yes
Do you wear a sock on your head?no

Which yes/no questions to start with

Start yes/no questions with the “Is this a...?” pack, the easier one. The question names something, and your child decides whether it matches the picture in front of them. Use pictures your child already knows by name; the receptive language activities are a good way to teach those names first.

Ask two questions about the same picture, one with a yes answer and one with a no (“Is this a dog?” and “Is this a cat?”), and switch which comes first, so your child has to listen to the name and not just say yes.

Move on to Everyday Facts once that goes well. Here the picture helps your child think about the object, but the answer depends on the question: a picture of a shoe, and “Do you eat a shoe?”. Start with the questions where the funny “no” is obvious. Many children find them silly, and silly helps.

Don’t give the answer away

Children practicing yes/no questions pick up on tiny cues fast: a raised voice, a smile, a nod while you wait. Ask the exact question once, in a neutral voice, then give a calm pause. Show one round at a time and keep the adult guide out of sight, so the answer has to come from the question.

Mix yes and no answers in no fixed order. If the answer is always yes on the first turn, your child will learn the pattern instead of the question.
Watch your own head. It is easy to nod without noticing while you wait for a yes.
Record helped answers separately from answers your child gave alone.

Yes/no to facts is not the same as yes/no to offers

Yes/no questions about facts (“Is this a cup?”, “Can a car fly?”) are a different skill from saying yes or no to an offer, like “Do you want juice?”. An offer is about what your child wants right now, and the answer changes from moment to moment, so there is no right answer to check against a guide.

These packs practice the first kind only.

The packs say so plainly: answering yes or no to requests is not checked here. Many children learn to accept and refuse offers in daily routines, at snack time or when choosing a toy, and your child’s speech therapist or BCBA can tell you how to work on that. A child who can say “no” to “Is this a shoe?” may still say yes to every offer, and the other way around.

Take yes/no questions into the day

Take yes/no questions off the page by asking about real things when they are in your hands. Hold up a cup and ask “Is this a cup?”, then “Is this a shoe?”. Ask “Do we wear shoes in the bath?” as you run it. A few willing turns at breakfast and playtime count for more than one long session.

When yes and no are steady, WH questions for autism are a natural next step: what, who and where.

Speech therapy at home for late talkers and speech delay

Teach first, check later

Each yes/no pack keeps its 6 check rounds separate from its 6 practice rounds. During a check, record your child’s first response before any help: no pointing, nodding or hinting between attempts. The log uses I for independent and correct, H for correct with help, X for incorrect or no response.

If your child says no to the session itself, stop and note it.

Mostly I? Try the questions in a new place or with another adult. Some help needed? Keep the same step and make one thing easier. Repeated errors or upset? Go back to fewer, easier questions and teach again when your child is calm. A good check shows your child can do it with this material. It is not a speech or language assessment.

How to teach yes/no questions at home

To teach yes/no questions at home, show one familiar picture, ask “Is this a…?” once in a neutral voice, and let your child answer with a YES or NO card, a nod or a word. Mix yes and no answers, model the answer during teaching, and help a little less on each turn. Keep sessions to 3 to 5 minutes.

Print the pages in color at actual size (on A4, choose fit to page) and cut out a pair of YES and NO cards. Keep the adult guide out of sight.
Decide which response you will count: touching a card, a nod or head shake, a sign or a spoken word.
Show one round at a time and ask the exact question from the guide once, then give a calm pause.
During teaching, model the answer: point to YES and say “Yes, it is a dog.” On the next turn, pause a little longer before helping.
Mix yes and no answers in no fixed order, and ask a yes and a no question about the same picture.
Run the 6 check rounds on another day, record the first response as I, H or X, and use the log to decide what comes next.

In the download

2 printable packs, each with instructions, practice rounds, a check and a log.

Answer Yes/No Questions: Is This a...?
Your child looks at one picture and answers “Is this a dog?” with YES or NO.
Answer Yes/No Questions: Everyday Facts
Your child answers fact questions like “Do you eat a shoe?” or “Can a duck swim?” with YES or NO.

Fill in the short form at the top and the PDFs are yours.

For SLPs, BCBAs and RBTs

Both yes/no packs target responding to questions of identity (“Is this a...?”) and simple world knowledge (“Can a car fly?”) with a single picture as context. They do not target yes/no in the mand context, accepting or rejecting offered items, which is functionally a different response and is excluded from the checks.

The response form is flexible (card selection, head nod or shake, sign, vocal), and parents are told to fix one topography before running the check so the data stay comparable. If yes/no responding is on the plan from a VB-MAPP assessment or ABLLS-R, the VB-MAPP goal mapper helps you write the matching practice goal.

Each pack balances yes and no answers across 6 practice and 6 check trials and tells parents to avoid fixed patterns and unintended cues like nodding or vocal emphasis. The check records first response without prompts and logs I, H or X per trial. It is an informal snapshot on familiar material, not a probe on novel stimuli and not a language assessment. Whether this is the right target, and in which response form, stays with you. RBTs who run these trials can practice measurement and prompting questions on the free RBT practice test.

Common questions

How do you teach yes and no to an autistic child?: Start with questions about pictures your child already knows, like “Is this a dog?”, and give them a clear way to answer: a YES and NO card to touch, a nod or a sign. Ask a yes and a no question about the same picture, mix the order, model the answer during teaching and fade that help over the next turns.
What are good yes or no questions for preschoolers?: Simple ones about familiar things: “Is this a banana?”, “Is a bed for sleeping in?”, “Can a fish swim?”. Avoid questions where the answer depends on your child, like “Do you drink milk?”: not every child does. Silly ones with an obvious no, like “Do you eat a shoe?” or “Do you wear a sock on your head?”, are a good way in.
My child says yes to everything. What should I do?: It is common. Ask a no question about a picture your child knows well, keep your face and voice neutral, and mix yes and no answers in no fixed order. Using the YES and NO cards can make the choice clearer than a spoken answer.
Is answering “Do you want juice?” the same skill?: No. That is yes or no to an offer, based on what your child wants right now. These packs practice yes or no about facts and what things are, and they don’t check offers. Ask your child’s speech therapist or BCBA how to practice accepting and refusing.
My child doesn’t speak yet. Can they still answer yes/no questions?: Yes. Pointing to or handing you a card, nodding or shaking their head, or signing all count. Pick one way and count that one during the check.
Can I use these with a speech and language therapist or speech pathologist?: Yes. In the UK, share the pack with your child’s speech and language therapist (SLT) or the school’s SENCo, so home and school ask the same questions in the same way. In Australia, your speech pathologist, often funded through the NDIS, can tell you which response form to count. The pages print at fit to page on A4.

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