Core words are the grammar

Most of what anyone says, on a mouth or on a board, is a small set of words used over and over. I, you, this, that, want, not, more, go, stop, help, like. Those are core. The names of snacks, shows, and people are fringe. Fringe is precious. It is not the skeleton.

Selection is a set of tests, not a shopping trip. How often does the word come back in different rooms? How many jobs can it do — ask, refuse, comment, leave, be with someone? If you only keep words that fetch objects, you have built a vending machine. A person who cannot say not or stop does not have a voice. They have a catalogue.

Hands learn where a word lives. Moving “not” to make room for this week’s character breaks that map. Add fringe around the core. Choose fringe with the person: a name, a special interest, a place, a sensory word they actually use. Do not evict core for cute.

A twenty-word backup is honest about its gaps. It has no what, is, or and. A robust talker needs hundreds of core words, plus an alphabet, plus their fringe. Kindred’s board is for modelling and for when the talker cannot come. It is not the whole language.