If you have spent any time around AAC or speech therapy, you have heard the phrase core words. It sounds technical, but the idea is simple, and it is one of the most useful things a parent can understand.
Core words are the small set of high-frequency words that make up the bulk of everything we say. Get these right, and your child can communicate an enormous amount with a handful of buttons.
What Are Core Words?
Core words are versatile, high-frequency words like more, stop, go, want, help, I, you, it, and that. They are not tied to one topic. The word more works for more food, more tickles, more bubbles, or more time. A surprisingly small set, a few hundred words, makes up most of what we say in everyday conversation.
Core vs Fringe Vocabulary
The opposite of core is fringe vocabulary: specific nouns like dinosaur, banana, or trampoline. Fringe words matter, because they carry meaning and motivation, but each one is only useful in a narrow situation. A child who only has fringe words can name things but cannot easily ask, refuse, comment, or direct. Core words are what turn naming into conversation.
Most of what we say uses just a few hundred core words. Teaching a child more and stop opens up more conversations than a page of picture-nouns.
Why Core Words Matter So Much
- They are always relevant. Core words work in every activity, so your child can use them all day.
- They enable real communication. Requesting, refusing, commenting, and directing all run on core words.
- They build sentences. Core words are the glue, like I want or help me, that combines words into phrases.
- They are efficient to teach. A few dozen core words go further than hundreds of nouns.
The First Core Words to Teach
You do not need to teach all of them at once. Start with a small set of powerful words and model them constantly:
- more - request continuation of almost anything
- stop and all done - end or refuse an activity
- go - start or keep an action moving
- want - the engine of most requests
- help - ask for support without frustration
- my turn and mine - claim a place and take part
- like and don't like - comment and express an opinion
- I and you - the people words that start sentences
Making your own communication materials? Download our 48 free AAC symbols as PNGs, SVGs and printable sheets, including pictures for “help”, “more” and “stop”. This starter sample can supplement familiar materials; it is not a complete core vocabulary.
How to Teach Core Words With AAC
- Model, model, model. Tap the core word yourself as you say it, throughout ordinary routines.
- Focus on a few at a time. Go deep on five or six words rather than sprinkling dozens.
- Weave them into daily life. Model more at snack, go at the swing, and stop during play.
- Keep their positions fixed. When a word never moves, your child learns where it lives and finds it faster.
Practice Core Words on Paper Too
A device is not the only place to build core vocabulary. A printed core board, kept on the fridge, in the car, or in a bag, means core words are always in reach, even when a screen will not do. SpeakPad offers a free printable Core Word Board you can download and print, and the same core words your child learns on paper carry straight into the app.
Start With Core Words Today
Private, offline AAC for iPhone and iPad. Speaking is always free, with optional SpeakPad Pro tools for caregivers.
Download on the App Store Learn More About SpeakPadSources
- Beukelman, D. R., Jones, R. S., & Rowan, M. (1989). Frequency of word usage by nondisabled peers in integrated preschool classrooms. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 5(4), 243-248.
- Banajee, M., Dicarlo, C., & Buras Stricklin, S. (2003). Core vocabulary determination for toddlers. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 19(2), 67-73.