April 23: Core vocabulary & communication

I want to spend the next couple blog posts talking about core vocabulary and communication.

Core vocabulary is a small set of highly useful words that makes up about 70% of what we say on a daily basis. Core words are words like: go, stop, I, no, want, what, in. The advantage of teaching core language to students with complex communication needs is that these words can be combined to make a variety of different messages, like: no go, want go, go in, etc. Here is an example of some types of core vocabulary boards we would use at school with our students:

Some core boards are colour-coded based on category (yellow for pronouns, green for verbs, etc.), and some are not.

Today I will email you some different types of core vocabulary boards you can download and print to try using with your child at home if you would like. I will also send some communication topic boards you could use to facilitate communication with highly specific vocabulary (aka "fringe vocabulary") while doing things like cooking or playing with play doh.

Check out the following video that describes the difference between teaching core vocabulary and fringe vocabulary (highly specific vocabulary that can only be used to mean ONE thing):

When we first introduce core vocabulary to our students, our job is simply to MODEL. Just like teaching any other form of language or communication, students will not innately know how to use it, so we must teach them! There are many different types of activities you could incorporate at home using core vocabulary. I will list some examples below:

Teaching go:

• Point to the word go on the core board while playing with cars ("the car can go down the ramp!")
• Point to the word go on the core board during meal times ("go sit down")
• Point to the word go on the core board during bed time routine ("go brush your teeth", "go to your bedroom", "go pick a book")

Teaching want:

• Point to the word want on the core board while playing with cars ("you want the red car", "I want a turn")
• Point to the word want on the core board during meal times ("do you want a cookie?", "I want more")
• Point to the word want on the core board during bed time routine ("Mom wants a kiss", "you want the Dora book")

It's important to recognize that when modelling the use of core language with a core board, you do not need to point to every word you say. For example, if you were to say "I want more cookies", you could just point to the word "I", or you could point to "I" and "want", or you could point to "I" and "want" and "more" and then use a specific food topic board to point to the word "cookies". It all depends on your child's level of understanding, and what core words you would like to teach.

Here's an example of how to use a core board during 7 everyday games:

Here's an example of how to use a core board combined with some fringe vocabulary specific to playing with lego:

So, try incorporating some modelling of core vocabulary at home when interacting with your child to support their communication skill development! The hope is that eventually they will be able to use core boards to communicate expressively with others. Please let me know if you have any further questions about related to core vocabulary or communication in general. Take care!