The value of knowing about core vocabulary cannot be stressed enough! While we need to look at the student’s physical and cognitive abilities to help identity the best means of accessing a communication system, identifying the device  comes later!  We must first identify their speech and language strengths.  For very young children and those with complex needs, it’s important to assess their comprehension of core words.  Whenever I’m asked to provide assistance with identifying the most appropriate means of functional communication for these students, I start off asking for the same information. This helps determine the type of communication software that we should introduce as part of the assessment process.  Once I’ve gathered some of this information, I provide the educational team and/or assessment leader with helpful resources on using core vocabulary to lay a foundation for language learning.  Today I am going to look at questions I ask when getting started and provide access to some of the key core word resources.

• How familiar are YOU with core vocabulary instruction for early language learners? Many SLPs and special educators are still not completely familiar with this evidence-based approach to teaching early language to students with significant needs. To learn more about this approach, visit Project Core at UNC-Chapel Hill.  The site is full of research on the topic, printable materials ready for use, video examples of modeling and using core words, and -best of all- a series of 12 FREE online training modules that will teach you everything you need to know!
  Claire Campbell CCC-SLP, ATP from Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center, recently taught two educational sessions on our site.  The first session, WHAT ARE CORE WORDS AND WHAT DO THEY DO? provides a great introduction!

• What core words does the student recognize?  It’s important to determine if the child understands the meaning of specific words or if they are responding to  context clues. We’ve created a simple core word checklist that provides a quick means of collecting information about the words our students seem to comprehend. Provide a printed copy to the parent or caregivers, as well as anyone who works closely with the student: teacher, teaching assistant, OT or PT, nurse, etc. and advise them to pay close attention to their communication exchanges with the student. They need to make an effort to use these specific words during activities and exchanges and indicate on the form which words he/she seems to consistently grasp. Also identify specific nouns that are relevant and recognized by the student (family members, friends, games, foods, etc.). 

• Tell me about the student’s receptive language skills: 

• Do they seem to understand what’s being said to them? Or are they really just using context clues to follow along?  If you removed physical or visual prompts/cues, would they still respond to your words? 

• What about conversations being spoken around them or to the whole group? Do they attend?

• Do they require a gesture or some type of visual support to comprehend the meaning of words?   …all words? some words? which words?  what kinds of prompts are needed? 

• What types of ‘communications’ does he/she routinely use (if any)?:  Gestures or pointing? Utterances or vocalizations? Sign language? Taking your hand and leading you to an object or activity? Using a visual support or tangible object to convey interest? Our students may be ‘communicating’ with us in many ways but we might be overlooking behaviors and miss the value in them. Pay attention to every behavior they use to indicate a request, preference, like or dislike, etc. Take notes! 

• What are the child’s preferred foods, toys, people, activities? We need to know what he/she finds interesting, entertaining, or necessary! This allows us to pair these options with communication images for future exchanges and engagements. Always add familiar fringe words to communication systems since this is usally what a person wants to “talk about” most.

So, once we have 1) become more familiar with core word teaching and 2) identified core words that we feel the student understands, we can compile these words to create communication displays.  These might be printed core word cards, communication boards, or page-sets within an app or speech generating device. Remember to add fringe words too!

Language IN before Language OUT! By identifying the core words (and nouns) that we feel sure the child has taken IN and understands, we are now ready to add an icon or image to provide some visual representation to allow expression OUT! By using a core word activity sheet, you can make a list of tasks, specify the core words that apply, and begin modeling their use.  Don’t forget to take notes and collect data on how well they use these words.

We will continue to share information, ideas, and resources about core vocabulary in the coming weeks. Check back for link to another video session offered by Claire Campbell titled Core: Dawn to Dusk to hear her valuable ideas and strategies for infusing core vocabulary throughout the day. 

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Source  https://www.noodlenook.net/start-core-vocabulary/