MYTHBUSTERS of Core Vocabulary
Ninety percent of what we say daily is core words. Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is – fact. Core vocabulary refers to the small number of words that make up > 70-90% of what we say on a daily basis. These words are relevant across contexts and can have many meanings. Parents and therapists tasked with selecting vocabulary for a beginning communicator often turn to core vocabulary lists, knowing that these words are more universally relevant than specific context-dependent nouns, or fringe vocabulary. Some examples of core vocabulary include: stop, go, get, more, turn, mine, on, off, up, down, that.
Even with just these 11 words, a beginning communicator can take control of his or her environment, have his or her needs met and interact socially with friends and family. This beginning communicator can even use these few words to make phrases: "get that," "go up," "stop that," "turn that up," "turn that off," "go more," "that mine," "get that down." Core vocabulary is so powerful because it allows communicators to express a wide variety of concepts with a very small number of words.
The Core vocabulary board is very confusing and you can change the pictures out at any time. Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is - myth. The Core board is a visual format to help foster communication and verbal language. The board is a visual way to learn Core words. The Core board is a visual and verbal way for our children to speak to us as and for us to speak to them. They can process the information both visually and verbally through the use of the board. In addition, the pictures on the board never change their placement / location. This fosters automaticity, which means having the capability of starting, operating, moving, etc., independently. Think of it as their keyboard. When typing you can do this easy task without thinking where the keys are, which in turn you can quickly type. This is the same for our children they can retrieve their words quickly without thinking. Since the words never change placement this eliminates anxiety with communication.
Although the words and positions of words remains constant, we use several different sized boards in our classroom. Some of students are very early communicators, and having 60 words in front of them is visually overwhelming. For those students, we have boards that have fewer words that give them the greatest communication "bang for their buck". As students become more proficient, we add more words. I want to emphasize, however, that the boards basically look the same - words are in the same spot on all boards, but some words are covered up or left blank to create a less crowded visual field.
The pictures look weird and they don’t make sense. Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is – myth. The visuals we use are researched based and are Minspeak icons. If you show someone a picture of something simple, like an apple, they will naturally associate more than one idea with that picture. People usually say the most obvious idea first – “apple” – but then they start associating more ideas – “fruit,” “red,” “eat,” “bite,” and “hungry.” Minspeak takes advantage of this natural tendency by using a small set of pictures to represent a large number of words in communication.
Minspeak is an effective and efficient language representation method that promotes independent communication.
With a small number of pictures – called icons – the person using Minspeak can independently communicate a large vocabulary without having to spell or to learn and navigate through a large set of pictures.
The majority of core words are non-picture producing words. What would you picture if I said the word “come”, “want”, or “get” to you? It is a bit difficult but Minspeak has researched these words and the following is examples and explanations for some of the most difficult non-picture producing words.
For example:
The want picture looks a little scary but the word want is a non-picture producing word. If you think about the man in the picture he is reaching for an item he “wants” it and he is “wanted” (past tense of the word). This creates a visual for you.
When we say the word “come” we can picture calling a dog to “come here”.
When we say the word “get” you can visualize it by the sun always “gets” up.
Once we bring meaning to the icons and it becomes clear to us the easier it is for us as adults. Generally children do not have an issue with the pictures and we teach them right from the start the meaning behind the icons. We also supplement with Boardmaker pictures and digital pictures to create fringe vocabulary.
I am too slow when locating the words to speak to my child on the board. I feel like I peck and hunt and this is not conducive to teaching my child communication skills. Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is - myth. Slowing down is actually one of the magical aspects about the Core board. This might seem a little uncomfortable for you, but actually this is a wonderful way to give our children processing time. This gives your child time to understand the information presented to them. They need time to process first verbally and then visually. Slowing down is beneficial for everyone. Please take your time and don’t worry about pecking and hunting. Everyone is learning together.
I should speak to my child using the Core board.
Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is – fact. Language is naturally learned through modeling. We naturally do this on a daily basis and we are not even aware we do it. When your child says to you “Mommy eat” you naturally respond “You are hungry, you want a cookie”. I cannot stress enough the importance of modeling language to our children and model at a higher level. Model, Model, Model is imperative when learning how to communicate. You need to model language the same way your child is learning language and that is in a visual format using the Core board.
If the word I want to say is not on the board I should just skip using the board. Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is – myth. This is what I like to refer to as “Core it out”. We need to model at a higher level for our children, but we also need to think in Core when speaking to our children. When you look at the board there are two sides. One side is at a higher level for modeling and the other side is a bit lower, but this is for our children to speak to us. The lower side is where the child is at with language. So essentially one side is for you to speak to them and the other side is for them to speak to you. For example, if you wanted to say “Put your backpack away” you can easily Core that out and say on the board “Come get it. Put it in.”
I should use the Core board as often as needed in the home environment. If I feel my child does not understand what I am communicating or if I am working on how to expand language I should model and use the board. Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is – fact. The goal is for expressive / verbal language. If your child uses their voice and is being a functional communicator then there is no need for the board. We use the board to model communication / language. We require children to use the board when we do not understand them or if they need to slow down and communicate their needs and wants. Pointing and babbling is no longer a choice. Functional communication is our goal.
A great way to follow through with what we are working on at school is to use the Core board at home. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your partnership in education.
MYTHBUSTERS of Core Vocabulary
Ninety percent of what we say daily is core words. Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is – fact. Core vocabulary refers to the small number of words that make up > 70-90% of what we say on a daily basis. These words are relevant across contexts and can have many meanings. Parents and therapists tasked with selecting vocabulary for a beginning communicator often turn to core vocabulary lists, knowing that these words are more universally relevant than specific context-dependent nouns, or fringe vocabulary. Some examples of core vocabulary include: stop, go, get, more, turn, mine, on, off, up, down, that.
Even with just these 11 words, a beginning communicator can take control of his or her environment, have his or her needs met and interact socially with friends and family. This beginning communicator can even use these few words to make phrases: "get that," "go up," "stop that," "turn that up," "turn that off," "go more," "that mine," "get that down." Core vocabulary is so powerful because it allows communicators to express a wide variety of concepts with a very small number of words.
The Core vocabulary board is very confusing and you can change the pictures out at any time. Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is - myth. The Core board is a visual format to help foster communication and verbal language. The board is a visual way to learn Core words. The Core board is a visual and verbal way for our children to speak to us as and for us to speak to them. They can process the information both visually and verbally through the use of the board. In addition, the pictures on the board never change their placement / location. This fosters automaticity, which means having the capability of starting, operating, moving, etc., independently. Think of it as their keyboard. When typing you can do this easy task without thinking where the keys are, which in turn you can quickly type. This is the same for our children they can retrieve their words quickly without thinking. Since the words never change placement this eliminates anxiety with communication.
Although the words and positions of words remains constant, we use several different sized boards in our classroom. Some of students are very early communicators, and having 60 words in front of them is visually overwhelming. For those students, we have boards that have fewer words that give them the greatest communication "bang for their buck". As students become more proficient, we add more words. I want to emphasize, however, that the boards basically look the same - words are in the same spot on all boards, but some words are covered up or left blank to create a less crowded visual field.
The pictures look weird and they don’t make sense. Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is – myth. The visuals we use are researched based and are Minspeak icons. If you show someone a picture of something simple, like an apple, they will naturally associate more than one idea with that picture. People usually say the most obvious idea first – “apple” – but then they start associating more ideas – “fruit,” “red,” “eat,” “bite,” and “hungry.” Minspeak takes advantage of this natural tendency by using a small set of pictures to represent a large number of words in communication.
Minspeak is an effective and efficient language representation method that promotes independent communication.
With a small number of pictures – called icons – the person using Minspeak can independently communicate a large vocabulary without having to spell or to learn and navigate through a large set of pictures.
The majority of core words are non-picture producing words. What would you picture if I said the word “come”, “want”, or “get” to you? It is a bit difficult but Minspeak has researched these words and the following is examples and explanations for some of the most difficult non-picture producing words.
For example:
The want picture looks a little scary but the word want is a non-picture producing word. If you think about the man in the picture he is reaching for an item he “wants” it and he is “wanted” (past tense of the word). This creates a visual for you.
When we say the word “come” we can picture calling a dog to “come here”.
When we say the word “get” you can visualize it by the sun always “gets” up.
Once we bring meaning to the icons and it becomes clear to us the easier it is for us as adults. Generally children do not have an issue with the pictures and we teach them right from the start the meaning behind the icons. We also supplement with Boardmaker pictures and digital pictures to create fringe vocabulary.
I am too slow when locating the words to speak to my child on the board. I feel like I peck and hunt and this is not conducive to teaching my child communication skills. Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is - myth. Slowing down is actually one of the magical aspects about the Core board. This might seem a little uncomfortable for you, but actually this is a wonderful way to give our children processing time. This gives your child time to understand the information presented to them. They need time to process first verbally and then visually. Slowing down is beneficial for everyone. Please take your time and don’t worry about pecking and hunting. Everyone is learning together.
I should speak to my child using the Core board.
Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is – fact. Language is naturally learned through modeling. We naturally do this on a daily basis and we are not even aware we do it. When your child says to you “Mommy eat” you naturally respond “You are hungry, you want a cookie”. I cannot stress enough the importance of modeling language to our children and model at a higher level. Model, Model, Model is imperative when learning how to communicate. You need to model language the same way your child is learning language and that is in a visual format using the Core board.
If the word I want to say is not on the board I should just skip using the board. Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is – myth. This is what I like to refer to as “Core it out”. We need to model at a higher level for our children, but we also need to think in Core when speaking to our children. When you look at the board there are two sides. One side is at a higher level for modeling and the other side is a bit lower, but this is for our children to speak to us. The lower side is where the child is at with language. So essentially one side is for you to speak to them and the other side is for them to speak to you. For example, if you wanted to say “Put your backpack away” you can easily Core that out and say on the board “Come get it. Put it in.”
I should use the Core board as often as needed in the home environment. If I feel my child does not understand what I am communicating or if I am working on how to expand language I should model and use the board. Is this a myth or fact?
The answer is – fact. The goal is for expressive / verbal language. If your child uses their voice and is being a functional communicator then there is no need for the board. We use the board to model communication / language. We require children to use the board when we do not understand them or if they need to slow down and communicate their needs and wants. Pointing and babbling is no longer a choice. Functional communication is our goal.
A great way to follow through with what we are working on at school is to use the Core board at home. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your partnership in education.