Using Core Vocabulary with AAC for

Developing and Supporting Language in

the Classroom with Learners with Special

NeedsSandra M. Grether, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

sandra.grether@cchmc.org

Disclosure• Director of Speech-Language Pathology

Services for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics

• Associate Professor of Clinical at University of Cincinnati College of Allied Health Sciences Communication Sciences and Disorders

• I have no disclosures to report.

Using Core Vocabulary with AAC for Developing & Supporting Language

Topics Addressed:• Definition core language• Low tech vs. high tech• Emergent, context dependent &

independent users• Referential vs. descriptive teaching

styles• Visual supports for learning core

ActivitiesActivity 1: • Participant groups of 3-4• Choose academic content area• Determine core vocabulary and activities for

teaching core for emergent & independent users

• Use 3 communication boards to trial activities

Activity 2:• Table sharing and report back to large group• Differences in users• Effect of increasing number of words per

page set• Differences in vocabulary needs across

academic content areas

C.A.R.E. Framework (K. Davis, 2013)

• Context• Assessment• Review/

Reflect• Expand

Context

Assess-ment

Review/Reflect

Expand

Student IEP goals

Context

• Who?• Where?• When?

Assessment

• Formally - every 3 years

• Informal/Ongoing throughout the school year

• Collecting data in therapy sessions

• Consulting with other school staff on tools used in the classroom

• Collecting work samples/video

Review/Reflect• Reflection

necessary for educators to learn and grown (Tagg, 2007)

• Collaboration around data collection: obstacles

• Garner administrative support via the IEP and scheduling collaboration

• Adding in 6 week consultation meetings into IEP

• “clinic” meetings with family to train and talk about progress

• Co-treatment and/or consultation with related service providers (OT/PT, Learning Center, ELL, Spec Ed teacher, vision, AT spec.

Expand• Making it meaningful by 22• Consider goals around independence• Start EARLY!• Connect vocabulary with community• Connect your student’s communication

and social goals with community• Involve peers in the process

• Relationship between Function & Curriculum

C.A.R.E. = Function & Academics

• Who will the student need to talk to?– Parents, friends, family, home health

assistants, teachers, etc.• Where will they need to communicate and

learn?– Individual, small group, large group,

community?• When will they be able to pracice

independence?– Now or later?

• How does this tie in when they graduate?– Is it meaningful to student/family/special

education team?

Core Language

• A small set of words with the highest frequency of use both in conversation and written text.

• Research has found that 80% of words spoken are core and the remaining 20% are fringe.

Insert subject

Why Use Core Words and Not Words Typically Found in

Curriculum??• Children using

SGDs are just learning to use language

• Core is flexible• Helps with oral

AND written language development

Core is made of the following words:

• Pronouns• Verbs• Auxiliary Verbs• Prepositions• Adjectives• Determiners

Nouns

Places

Names

People

Fringe Vocabulary consists of:

Core versus Fringe Vocabulary - Need a Mix of

Both!Core• Highly functional and/or common words

and phrases (e.g. me/you, want, stop, more)

• Items related to basic needs or short social messages (e.g. help, no, hi/bye)

Fringe • words are specific to the content of a

lesson or activity or related to a specific topic (e.g. baseball, book, restaurant)

• may be specific to particular individuals

Core Words Support Communication Across the

Continuum of Ability

• Emergent Communicator• Context Dependent Communicator• Independent Communicator

Emergent Communicator• Needs simple concrete pictures• Needs to be very motivating• Core word examples: more, stop, go,

help, I (me), you, eat, drink

• What sentences can you make?

THE POWER OF 8 WORDS

• I/me• You• More• Stop

• Go • Help • Eat• Drink

Context Dependent Communicator

• Spontaneously communicates wants and needs

• Understands more abstract pictures• Has some beginning literacy skills• Core word examples: hot, cold, small,

big, little, he, she, make, this, that

• Combine with: more, stop, go, help, I (me), you, eat, drink

Building with Words

• I/Me• You• He• She

• This• That

• Go• Help• Eat• Drink• Stop• Make

• Hot• Cold• Big• Little• More

Independent Communicator

• Same literacy skills as peers• Can communicate about a variety of

things in a flexible novel way• Need a variety of core words• Need ALL grammatical markers

– Plurals– Possessive – Tense– Comparative & Superlative

Organizing a Vocabulary System

Beukelman & Mirenda, 2005

Linguistic organization - Fitzgerald Key

• left to right linguistic order• arranged in classes according to their

typical position in a sentence• color coded (may see variations

used) • questions (purple), followed by people

(yellow), action words/verbs (green), descriptors & prepositions (blue), object nouns (orange), social/phrases (pink), & miscellaneous (white)

Examples of Fitzgerald Key Organization

High Tech Core Boards• Gateway on Tobii DynaVox’s SGDs• Unity on Prentke Romich Company’s

SGDs• WordPower (available separately on

both)• Chat Communication with WordPower

on Nova Chat, ProSlate, and Ipad• Proloquo2go Core on ProSlate or Ipad• Sonoflex on ProSlate and ATIA/Tobii

devices• Speak for Yourself on tablets or iPad• Core Boards (developed using

TouchChat with WordPower)

Gateway Sonoflex

TouchChat

Proloquo2go

Unity

Speak for Yourself!

Core Boards of 30, 56, & 100 using TouchChat with WordPower

created by members Hamilton County ESC AT Task Force, Deborah McGraw, M.S. CCC-SLP, chairperson (debbie.mcgraw@hcesc.org)

Referential Teaching Method

• Student participates and demonstrates learning using curriculum content words (e.g. herbivore)

• Student typically provides 1 word responses

• Content words preprogrammed into student’s SGD or provided on low tech board/system

• Students answer close-ended questions• Requires significant amount of staff and

student time• Access to vocabulary that may not be

needed

Descriptive Teaching Method

• Students can focus on language learning – syntax, morphology, pragmatics

• Can participate regardless of level of language development

• Students use frequent everyday vocabulary to respond to open-ended questions

• Encouraged to use common words to describe (e.g. green things), define (e.g. eat plants), or predict (e.g. not eat me), explain (e.g. all dead), and compare (e.g. big animal).

Standards Based IEP• Goals based on:

academic content standards age-appropriate grade-level

benchmarks & indicators.• Goals serve as roadmaps, identifying

necessary learning that a child needs to achieve these grade-level benchmarks & indicators.

Standards Based IEP

Ask:• What skill does the child require to

master the content of the curriculum?

Not:• What curriculum content does the

child need to master?

Unique Learning Systemhttps://www.n2y.com/unique/

• Dynamic, standards-based curriculum for special learners.

• Monthly instructional thematic units of study (29 lesson plans and downloadable materials for classroom learning activities).

• Uses SymbolStix graphics • 3 levels of differentiated tasks

for diversity of learners with significant disabilities.

• 6 bands (Preschool thru HS + Transition)

Reading WritingMath Science Social studies

ULS Participation Levels• Level 1: Students require maximum

supports. Increasing participation is the main objective.

• Level 2: Students may require picture support and other direct support in learning and the demonstration of comprehension.

• Level 3: Students can read text, produce simple writing, perform basic math processes, and can independently demonstrate comprehension of modified learning information.

Differentiated Tasks Classroom Goal for all students (Level

3)• Students will independently read the

book. • Students will respond to simple

questions about the storyStudents with CCN using AAC (Level

2)• Students will state a word or point to a

picture of omitted words during a shared reading

• Students will point to pictures in response to simple questions related to the story.

Students with severe cognitive using AAC (Level 1)

• Students will state a sentence from book by activating a talking switch.

News-2-Youhttps://www.n2y.com/products/news2you

• Weekly symbol-supported news articles and dozens of worksheets, games, and activities help students connect with the world

• 4 levels – regular, higher, simplified & advanced

• Printable, speaking, or booklet formatsWeekly Issues Include

Current Events Interactive PowerPoint

Assessment

Vocabulary Joke Skill Worksheets

Recipe Puzzles / Games Sports News

Holidays Communication Board

Science Experiment

Every Other Week: Interactive Cartoon Adapted Storybook

News-2-You Communication Board and Core Vocabulary Strips

Word Walls

http://talksense.weebly.com/literacy-and-aac.html • Add important core words

that student needs to know but are difficult to learn or sound out • Use to teach a particular phoneme blend or

other phoneme/letter pattern which student needs to recognize to become fully literate: e.g. tense markers (-ed, -ing), plurals (-s), or comparative/superlative (-er, -est) • Display core word icon or symbol sequences

Other Word Wall/Chart Examples

Content Words with Core Definitions

Witkowski & Baker (2012)

Content Word

Core Vocabulary Description -

Emergent Language

Core Vocabulary Description – More

Advanced Language

Compare (what is) same Talk about what is the same between two things.

Contrast (what is) different Talk about what is different between two things.

Author (he/she) writes The person who writes the story.

Setting Place (for) story The place where the story happens.

Plot What (story) about What the story is about.

Character Person (in story) The person or people in the story.

ImPAACT Program: Purpose of Targeted Skills

(Kent-Walsh, Binger & colleagues, 2012)

• To provide functional models of effective AAC use

Aided AAC Modeling

• To provide communication opportunities, additional processing time, and an expectation for communication.

Expectant Delay

• To prompt higher-level content expression

WH-Question Asking

• To provide client with direct indication of what s/he is supposed to do

Verbal Prompts

• To reinforce communicative attempts and expanded utterances.

Increased Responsivity

Intervention Strategies• Aided Language Stimulation!!!!• Light Cueing decreases verbal

prompts• Design overlays so that information

is consistently placed based on language type

• Develop vocabulary based upon literacy system of left to right, top to bottom movement

• Not all buttons must be programmed (Consider “hiding” buttons)

Literacy Instruction Curriculum

(Light & McNaughton, 2009)http://aacliteracy.psu.edu

• Literacy Instruction for Individuals with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome, & other disabilities

• Specially designed for learners who have difficulty using speech to communicate

• Identifies skills learners need to participate in the curriculum

• Targets: language skills; phonological awareness skills; letter-sound correspondences, decoding skills and application of decoding, sight word recognition, reading and understanding simple texts

Partner Training –Teachers, Support Personnel, Peers &

Caregivers• Pause and WAIT for student to

construct the message. Be patient!! It might take awhile. (10 second rule!!)

• Don’t feel you have to keep talking all the time. Teach a slower rhythm for exchanging information.

• Give student an opportunity to ask questions or make comments.

Partner Training • Interact at eye level if at all possible.

Grab a chair if partner is in a wheelchair. Pay attention to facial expressions and gestures.

• Be honest. If you don’t understand the message - admit it. Ask to repeat or provide more information to clarify.

• If you understand the message, don’t insist that the student use his/her device or board. Accept whatever mode is used. Allow for a combination of modes if needed.

Success in the Classroom• Juggling many

communication modes (e.g. speaking, gestures, signing, pictures, SGD)

• Teaching core words while supporting activity specific and school-based vocabulary, when needed

• Involving peers• Raising expectations• Making communication

positively motivating• Support when needed

TouchChat w/WordPower Core 30

- created by members Hamilton County ESC AT Task Force, Deborah McGraw, M.S. CCC-SLP, chairperson

(debbie.mcgraw@hcesc.org)

Cameron

• Cameron has Down syndrome and autism.

• 9 years old when videotaped.• Communicates using gestures, facial

expressions, vocalizations, limited speech, & SGD w/ Gateway core & fringe vocabulary and is beginning to use keyboard for spelling.

• He initially used Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and then transitioned to low tech communication boards before moving to an SGD.

Reading Standards for Literature

Integration of Knowledge and IdeasKindergarten

• With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories. (eg. More, fast, going, climbing)

• With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (describing a picture) (eg. Tall, short, happy, sad)

Reading Standards for Literature

Integration of Knowledge and IdeasFirst Grade

• Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events. (eg. fat, thin, pretty, beautiful, fun)

• Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.

Reading Standards for Literature

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas2nd Grade

• Use information gained from the illustration and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting or plot.

• Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (eg. Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures. (same, different, feelings, how characters look)

Differentiated Tasks K-2

• Students will point to pictures within a story to identify named characters and events

• Students will match similarities or differences between two characters in a story.

Reading Standards for Literature

Integration of Knowledge and IdeasGrades 3-5

• Use illustrations and multimedia to describe the meaning of text.

• Compare themes and topics within the same genre.

• Students will describe characters and events based on illustrations and other visuals from a story.

• Students will describe similarities and differences between characters or events of a story from two different books.

Differentiated Tasks Grades 3-5

• Students will point to pictures within a story to identify named characters and events

• Students will match similarities or differences between two characters or a story or stories.

TouchChat w/WordPower Core 56

- created by members Hamilton County ESC AT Task Force, Deborah McGraw, M.S. CCC-SLP, chairperson

(debbie.mcgraw@hcesc.org)

Joe

• Joe has cerebral palsy. • He is a teenager and a sports enthusiast

and enjoys sharing news about his favorite team.

• He uses verbal approximations, facial expressions, and his SGD with WordPower and keyboard for spelling using touch (grid).

• He attends a teen writer’s group which gives him opportunities to use his technology to improve his writing & social communication skills.

Applying Math Standards for Geometry

Kindergarten – Identify and Describe Shapes• Identify basic shapes by name (square,

circle, triangle, rectangle, etc.) and describe attributes (number of sides, size, etc.).

• Describe positions of objects and shapes in the environment with positional vocabulary (in, on, under, beside, etc.).

Applying Math Standards for Geometry

Analyze, compare, create, and compose shapes: Grades 1 & 2 - Reason with shapes and their attributes• Define two-dimensional shapes as being flat

and three-dimensional shapes as being solid.• Compare two-dimensional shapes and

describe their similarities and differences (i.e. left, right, inside, outside, front, middle, back, size)

• Partition circles and rectangles into two or four parts (i.e. halves, fourths).

Differentiated Tasks K-2

• Students will match like shapes.• Students will place an object in an

identified spatial location.• Students will match two or four parts

of the same size within a partitioned shape.

Applying Math Standards for Geometry

Grades 3 to 5 - Reason with shapes and their attributes. Draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by properties of their lines and angles.• Sort and label shapes by multiple defining

attributes (shape, circle, square, triangle, rectangle, cube, cone, cylinder)

• Classify figures on the basis of angles and parallel lines (corner, left, right, top, bottom).

• Describe attributes of two-dimensional shapes (number sides & angles, straight & curved lines)

• Partition shapes into equal parts and express these parts as fractions.

Differentiated Tasks 3–5 • Students will sort and match shapes on the

basis of multiple attributes.• Students will identify shapes with similar

lines or curves as part of a real-world scenario.

• Students will divide a shape into two or four equal parts.

• Students will connect points on a coordinate plane that represent locations

• Students will define related vocabulary– corner = where + 2 + sides + meet– graph = picture + that + shows + how

much

TouchChat w/WordPower Core 100

- created by members Hamilton County ESC AT Task Force, Deborah McGraw, M.S. CCC-SLP, chairperson

(debbie.mcgraw@hcesc.org)

Matthew

• Matthew has childhood apraxia of speech and possibly mild intellectual disability.

• He was 9 years old when videotaped.

• He communicates using speech, gestures/signs and his SGD with Unity core and fringe vocabulary and a keyboard for spelling.

Social Studies Standards for Government K-2

• Recognize and demonstrate appropriate personal accountability choices.

• Work collaboratively to complete a group task.

• Identify authority figures in the home, school and community.

• Recognize and follow rules specific to a situation.

• Recognize the consequences of failure to follow rules in specific situations.

Differentiated Tasks Government - K-2

• Students will identify and follow rules of the classroom and school.

• Students will match each person who has a helping role with the location of that person’s job.

• Students will work collaboratively for a purpose.

• Students will make appropriate choices on the basis of a given activity or situation.

Social Studies Standards for Economics - K-2

• Compare amounts to determine more or less.• Recognize the difference between wants &

needs.• Identify places where people buy or sell

goods and services.• Distinguish between buying and selling.• Recognize that people earn money by doing

a job or performing a chore.• Recognize that people must have money if

they wish to buy products and services.

Differentiated Tasks Economics K-2

• Students will locate a price on an item being sold.

• Students will identify human needs (food, clothes, shelter, etc.).

• Students will compare two items and choose one of them.

• Students will match items to a store where the items can be purchased.

• Students will recognize that money is used to buy things.

• Students will recognize that completing a job or chore can result in a reward in the form of a sticker, money or some other item of value.

Differentiated Tasks Economics - Grades 3-5

• Students will locate information on a graph or chart.

• Students will compare two items and decide which to purchase.

• Students will identify examples of producers and consumers.

• Students will match stores & locations in the community where specific goods or services are provided.

• Students will match goods with the places where those goods are produced (food on farms, clothing in factories, etc.).

Activity• Choose standard or set of

differentiated tasks for focus (e.g. Reading, Math, Government &/or Economics)

• Determine core vocabulary needed at emergent and independent levels

• Discuss potential activities for learning the core language

• Use all 3 levels of vocabulary • Determine level most effective in

achieving your language targets

Table Sharing and Report Back

Report Back

• Differences in users• Effect of increasing number of words

per page set• Differences in vocabulary needs

across academic content areas

Questions ???