Do you want to model core words and language for your non-speaking AAC user every day for the month of January? Me too! But I won’t do that without a plan.

For the last eighteen months, we have implemented an AAC core word of the day using the five Activity Set resources created by Rachael Langley. These are available for purchase through her Reach Language website. I highly recommend these products. Like stop reading now and go buy them. Core Word a Day modeling is a paradigm shift for the AAC community. It is built on a foundational belief that mastery is not required to move forward. By cycling through the thirty-six core words on the Project Core Universal Core word list each month, communication partners provide a wealth of aided language input AND communicate to the AAC user that these words really are the nucleus of their language use. We have seen tremendous growth in Nathaniel’s general AAC use, phrase and sentence length, and complexity of his communication since using a word of the day approach.

Modeling through the Project Core Universal Core word list each month hasn’t limited Nathaniel’s exposure to language. Rather it provides a fertile bed for growth. If I notice he has been using one of the words spontaneously, I increase the language complexity surrounding that word for the next month. For example, he uses STOP with mastery. So when STOP is our word of the day, I change the verb ending. I use it in a question, command, and statement. I lengthen the overall utterance and the placement of STOP within the utterance. I use it in pretend play speaking for an action figure or stuffed animal. I add an adverb. The word STOP can be used to teach language in preschool circle time and graduate school writing. The word itself has no difficulty rating that should be considered too easy for some AAC users or too difficult for others. It is simply a word that together with other words builds concepts and creates meaning.

I am eager to keep this modeling approach going in our home.

I stumbled across an Every Day’s A Holiday desk calendar while shopping on Black Friday. It seemed like a super fun way to further our Core Word a Day modeling. Who doesn’t want to celebrate argyle sweaters, cable cars, international spicy food, yodeling for neighbors, popcorn, answering your cat’s questions, and hugging? And that’s just seven days in January!

I mentioned initially that I don’t model if I don’t have a plan. So following Rachael’s approach (and with her blessing) I created a guide for our family that matched a core word from Project Core Universal Core word list with each of January’s holidays. I picked a five to ten minute activity focused on the holiday that will give us opportunity to model that word. I linked any resources or things to print from the internet, and I summarized all the supplies needed for the month into one list. I also brainstormed one to five word phrases that can be modeled using that day’s word. This last piece will allow other, less experienced, communication partners to jump in and gain confidence communicating with our son and using his system.

This is the closest thing I have created to a daily curriculum for AAC use at home. The activities are simple. Some as easy as watching a YouTube video demonstration of how to make chocolate covered cherries and commenting about the process. Other activities are more involved - like making pancakes or a craft. Don’t have time for that on a particular day? Talk about the holiday, model the core word using a suggested phrase, and move on with your day.

One of the things I love about Core Word a Day modeling is that I know we are going to review these words again next month. If we miss a day, we simply miss a day and pick up the following morning anew. Quoting LM Montgomery from Anne of Green Gables, “…isn’t it nice to think tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet…” That is the mindset we have to have to run the endurance race of AAC implementation at home. Regardless of what you did or didn’t model today, tomorrow is a fresh chance. Core Word a Day modeling reinforces that possibility.

The last thing I did for our January plan was type it all up in a PDF to share with you! The guide has three parts: a calendar listing the core words, the activity and modeling suggestions, and a supply list. Check it out. Order a calendar at the above link to display in your home so you will see it and remember to model. Start gathering the supplies. The new year is the perfect chance to celebrate new holidays and new habits.

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