First/Then Boards for Autism: What They Are, Why They Work, and 10 Examples
A first then board for autism is a two-box visual. The left box shows the thing that needs to happen now (shoes, bath, one bite of dinner) and the right box shows the preferred thing that follows it (park, iPad, dessert). You point to the left box, say "First shoes," point to the right box, say "Then park," and the child can see that the hard part is finite and the good part is real. It's one of the simplest tools in early intervention, and the one I recommend most often to parents whose child falls apart at a single recurring step in the day.
What a first/then board is
Picture a piece of cardstock divided down the middle. The left side says FIRST and the right side says THEN, and each side has a square where a picture card attaches with Velcro. The FIRST card is a non-preferred task, something your child has to do and tends to resist. The THEN card is something your child wants and would reliably choose. The board shows them side by side, in order, so your child doesn't have to hold the sequence in his head or trust your spoken promise that the fun thing is coming.
In the book I describe it as a way to help a child anticipate what's coming next, which reduces resistance and frustration. Underneath, what it does is turn an abstract, spoken negotiation ("if you put your shoes on we can go to the park, okay?") into two pictures a two-year-old can take in at a glance.
You'll hear it called a first/then visual or a first/then schedule. ABA programs use it constantly, which is why "first then board ABA" is a common search, but speech therapists, occupational therapists, and preschool teachers use it too, and you don't need a therapist to start.
Why it works for autistic kids
Three things are going on, and each one tells you how to fix the board when it fails.
The first is visual processing. Many autistic children understand a picture better than a spoken instruction, and they often struggle to follow directions that have more than one step. "Put your shoes on and then we'll go to the park" is a two-part sentence that evaporates as soon as you finish saying it, while the board keeps both parts visible until the task is done.
The second is predictability. Children who are sensitive to change tend to do better when they know what to expect, and a first/then board makes the next two events of the day explicit. Resistance, in my experience, is often less about the task itself and more about the unknown on the other side of it, and the THEN card answers that question before it gets asked.
The third is a principle from behavioral psychology that you've probably used without naming it. When a less-preferred activity is followed reliably by a more-preferred one, the less-preferred activity happens more readily over time. Behavior analysts call this the Premack principle, and it's described in the standard applied behavior analysis text (Cooper, Heron & Heward, 2020). Grandmothers call it "eat your vegetables and then you can have dessert." The board makes the arrangement visible and consistent, which is where most of its power comes from, because a verbal promise can be forgotten or doubted and a card on a board can't.
10 first/then examples for home
The FIRST should be short and achievable. The THEN should be something your child genuinely wants, ideally something that happens anyway and that you can deliver right after.
- First shoes, then park.
- First bath, then iPad (ten minutes, with a visual timer).
- First one bite, then play. (One bite, rather than "finish dinner.")
- First brush teeth, then book.
- First coat, then car. For a child who likes riding in the car, the car itself is the reward.
- First clean up blocks, then snack.
- First diaper, then bubbles.
- First hands washed, then lunch.
- First sit in the cart, then crackers. Keep a small board in your bag for the grocery store.
- First medicine, then show.
The kit's own examples run the same way: first get dressed, then breakfast; first brush teeth, then play time; first clean up toys, then iPad time; first try new food, then favorite food; first potty, then a sticker or small toy; first share toy, then a special activity.
Notice that several of the THEN items are things that would have happened regardless. Lunch follows handwashing in most houses, so the board is simply making the existing order visible, which gives your child a reason to get through the step he dislikes without anyone having to invent a new reward.
How to introduce one (5 steps)
- Start with a FIRST your child can already do. This is the step most parents skip, and it determines whether the board gets trusted. For the first week, put a task in the FIRST box that your child does without much fuss, such as "sit on chair," so he learns the pattern (task, then reward, every time) before you use it on the hard task.
- Pick a THEN that's a sure thing. Something your child wants nearly every day and that you can hand over within seconds: a favorite snack, a specific toy, a short video. Avoid rewards that depend on weather or someone else's schedule.
- Show, then say, then do. Hold the board at your child's eye level before the task begins. Point to the FIRST card and say the one word: "Shoes." Point to the THEN card: "Park." Then help your child start the task right away, using as much physical help as needed (with hand-under-hand guidance if your child tolerates it, and backing off as soon as he's moving). If he drifts or digs in partway through, point back to the board rather than repeating yourself.
- Deliver the THEN immediately, and celebrate. The moment the FIRST is done, point to the THEN card, say "Park!" with real animation, and go, before you look for your keys or finish one more thing. In the first weeks, the delay between finishing and getting the reward should be as close to zero as you can manage, and the finished sequence gets a cheer.
- Move to the hard task only after the pattern is solid. When your child looks at the board, does the easy FIRST, and looks expectantly at the THEN, the board means something to him. Now you can put shoes in the FIRST box.
Why it's not a bribe
Parents ask me this a lot, and it's a fair question, because from the outside "first shoes then park" can sound like paying a child to cooperate.
The difference is in the timing and the structure. A bribe is offered in the middle of a refusal, as a way out of a standoff: the child is screaming on the floor, and the parent says "if you stop, I'll give you a cookie," which teaches that screaming produces cookies. A first/then board is set up before the task begins, as a routine, and the THEN is contingent on the FIRST getting done rather than on the protest stopping. The child learns that doing the task produces the good thing, which is the lesson you actually want. Every adult operates on the same contingencies all day long (first work, then paycheck), and as the task gets easier and becomes routine, the board fades out and the routine stands on its own.
Print the First/Then board tonight.
The Resource Kit's First/Then board with its how-to and examples, plus 40 print-and-cut picture cards for the most common home tasks and rewards.
One email with the PDF, plus occasional early-intervention tips from Andrea. Unsubscribe anytime.
When it stops working and how to fix it
A first/then board that worked for two weeks and then quit usually has one of four problems.
The THEN isn't motivating enough anymore. Children's preferences shift, and a reward that was exciting in March is ordinary in April. Watch what your child goes for when he has free choice, and swap that in.
The FIRST is too long. "Clean your room" is a project rather than a FIRST. If your child starts the task and gives up partway, break it smaller: "put the cars in the bin," or "one bite." The task should take under a few minutes for a young child, and ideally under one.
The THEN gets delayed or skipped. This is the one that quietly kills most boards. If your child finishes the FIRST and the park gets postponed because it started raining, the board's promise has been broken, and a child who's been burned once will test it. When you can't deliver, say so plainly, change the THEN card to something you can deliver right now, and keep your word on that one.
The board only comes out during battles. If your child sees the board only when you're already frustrated, it becomes a signal that a fight is coming, so use it on calm days for easy tasks too.
If none of these fit and your child is melting down rather than refusing, the board may be the wrong tool for that moment, because a child in sensory overload can't engage with a contingency. The meltdown vs tantrum guide walks through how to tell the difference.
First/then vs. full visual schedule
A first/then board shows two steps. A visual schedule shows a sequence (two or three cards to begin with, more as your child gets the hang of it) laid out on a strip. The board is for a single sticking point, one task your child resists paired with one reward, while the schedule is for the shape of a whole routine, like the order of events between waking up and leaving the house.
Most families I work with start with the board because the problem that brought them in is usually one specific moment, and once the board is trusted, a longer strip is much easier to introduce, because your child already understands that pictures predict what happens next. The free printable visual schedule for autism page has the strip templates. For the switches between activities, the social story for transitions adds a second layer, and if you want just the printable without the explanation, the free first then board printable page is the download-first version of this one.
Frequently asked questions
What is a first then board?
A first then board is a two-panel visual support. One panel shows a task the child needs to complete, labeled FIRST, and the other shows a preferred activity or item that follows, labeled THEN, with picture cards attached by Velcro. Parents, teachers, and therapists use it to make a two-step sequence visible and predictable for children who process pictures more easily than spoken instructions.
Is a first then board only used in ABA?
No. Behavior analysts use first/then boards often, which is why the two are associated, but the tool is just as common in speech therapy, occupational therapy, preschool classrooms, and homes with no therapist involved. It rests on the general principle that pairing a less-preferred task with a reliably following preferred one makes the task easier.
What age is a first then board for?
Many children can begin using one around 18 months to 2 years, once they recognize familiar objects in photos and have a clear preference for certain activities. Toddlers do best with photos of their own belongings on the cards. The board stays useful through preschool and into school age, often shifting from pictures to written words as reading develops.
How long should the FIRST task take?
For a young child, under a few minutes, and under one minute when you're first introducing the board. The task should be a single action your child can complete, such as putting on shoes or taking one bite. If it takes longer than your child's patience, break it into smaller pieces and put only the first piece in the FIRST box.
For the full method, including the simplified-language scripts that go with the board and the transition tools from the Resource Kit, see the book and kit bundle. If one hard moment in the day is what brought you here, the hard moments page lays out which tools to reach for first.
Print the First/Then board tonight.
The Resource Kit's First/Then board with its how-to and examples, plus 40 print-and-cut picture cards for the most common home tasks and rewards.
One email with the PDF, plus occasional early-intervention tips from Andrea. Unsubscribe anytime.