My typical fifth-grade daughter climbed into the backseat the other day after school. I asked her about her day and she said,
“Mrs. K. Baby. Grumpy. Jarrod Jarrod. Hunt. (Sigh)”
Then she said:
“Jamie. Mrs. J. Math reading. Questions dividing fractions multiplying fractions. Reading vocab. Responsible smart.”
Crystal clear, right? Oh…hold on a second. I removed all of the core vocabulary from what she said. Here it is with the core vocabulary:
“I saw Mrs.K today. She doesn’t have time for the play any more because of the baby. Also, she seems grumpy. I don’t know how long she’s been there. She was there when Jarrod* was there, but Jarrod stopped going. She still remembers him though. I asked her how she still remembers him and she said, “I always had to hunt him down.” And I said, “Yeah (sigh)… Sorry about that.” (63/70 are core words* = 90% core vocabulary)
Then she said:
“Mom, know the new the new girl Jamie? I know why Mrs. J sits me next to her. It’s because she needs help with math and reading. She was asking questions about dividing fractions and multiplying fractions. And in reading, she just asks what we do and what’s the vocab. So she sat me next to her because I’m responsible, and I’m very smart so I can help her.” (56/69 are core words = 81% core vocabulary)
Much better? We talk a lot about core vocabulary.** It is central to the Speak for Yourself Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app, but core vocabulary is bigger than us…It is central to language. Core vocabulary is the 300-500 words we use to communicate about 80% of everything we say. If you are a research-based person and would like the references, we have links to quite a few in this post.
If someone removed core words from your vocabulary, your ability to communicate would be severely compromised. How would you tie language together? How would you make sense of the string of fringe words that you’re left putting out into the world? People would question your cognition. They would misunderstand you and try to make their own sense of what you are saying…and they would likely guess wrong. In my example above, if my daughter said, “baby grumpy Jarrod Jarrod (my son) hunt,” I would probably think she was saying a baby was grumpy and something about my son hunting. I would be completely wrong, but by guessing and assuming she said those words with intent, she’d have a chance to know what I misunderstood and maybe try to clarify. If she said that string of words, and I said to another adult, “Ignore that. She’s just saying random words,” how much more do you think she would try to say?
Of course, I can’t remove core vocabulary from a verbal child, and even if I could…why would I? Yet, in a lot of AAC systems, apps, and communication books, core vocabulary is not at the center…and many times it is very literally excluded from a nonverbal child’s vocabulary. And when that child attempts to string together the nouns he/she is able to access, bright, educated adults say “He’s just hitting random buttons. Ignore that.” One of the very basic tenants of behaviorism is, “If you want a behavior to go away, ignore it.” So, the child stops hitting buttons, and AAC is abandoned, sometimes forever…because when asked if AAC has been considered the response is, “Yeah, we tried that and all he did was hit buttons. He sees it as a toy. He’s not ready for that.” Sigh. We wouldn’t remove core vocabulary from a verbal child because we wouldn’t be able to understand anything she was trying to tell us. A child with complex communication needs (CCN) deserves the same benefit.
Access to core vocabulary is even more crucial for children who are not able to talk because their language ability depends on the vocabulary that is put in their hands. Literally. Their ability to communicate depends on what an adult in their life believes they are capable of saying, and therefore, it depends on someone in their life presuming that they are competent, intelligent, and present. Their ability to form spontaneous, novel, generative language depends on someone having the patience to give them time to build language to form sentences and learn to use core vocabulary to tie their thoughts and ideas together so that their communication can be understood and their opinions make sense and have value in their relationships. If there is a child with CCN in your life, be the person who has the belief and patience to help him become a competent communicator and makes a difference in his world.
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