Time words

Also called Temporal vocabulary, Time concepts, When words

Now, later, yesterday, soon, wait: the words for when. Why they are among the hardest to learn, and how a board and a timetable together make them real.

What it is

Time words are the vocabulary of when: now, later, next, soon, wait, first, then, before, after, today, tomorrow, yesterday, morning, night, always, never, again. They let a person ask when something will happen, understand a delay, and report something that happened earlier.

They are hard for everyone. Speaking children misuse "yesterday" for years. On a board they are harder still, because you cannot point at "later" and the reward for using it correctly arrives, by definition, later.

Who it can help

Anyone who is anxious about what happens next, which includes most autistic people, most children and a great many adults in care. "Wait" and "later" are the words that make a delay bearable rather than a refusal. "Yesterday" and "before" are the words that make telling stories possible and let a person report something that happened when the listener was not there.

They do not help on their own if the person's day is unpredictable. Time words work when there is a timetable to attach them to; see visual timetables and now and next. Without one, "later" is just another word for no.

How it works

Time words are abstract and their symbols are clocks, calendars and arrows: conventions the person learns rather than pictures they recognise. The most useful ones are relative rather than absolute. "Now", "next", "later", "wait" and "finished" can be understood by feel long before "Tuesday" means anything, and they are the ones to teach first.

Tense on a board is usually carried by a time word rather than a verb ending: "go" plus "yesterday" does the job of "went". That is fine and listeners understand it.

The Talk board carries "now", "later" and "wait" among its needs and sentence starters, and "again" and "finished" beside them, so a person can ask for a repeat or an end without a special page.

Getting started

This week, attach time words to real events on a now and next board: "now" plus "lunch", "next" plus "park". Press "wait" whenever you ask the person to wait, and then make the wait short and visible.

Use "finished" and "again" at the ends of things: songs, turns, meals. They are the first time words most people use meaningfully.

Recap the day at bedtime on the board: "today" plus "swimming" plus "Nan". It teaches "today" and it is the beginning of telling stories.

Where to get help

Speech and Language UK on how time concepts develop. The National Autistic Society on visual supports and predictability. Communication Matters for AAC vocabulary.