Core words vs. fringe words, explained like a human

Spend ten minutes reading about AAC and you’ll hit the terms “core vocabulary” and “fringe vocabulary.” They sound technical. They’re not. Here’s the human version.

Core words: the little words that do everything

Core words are the small set of words we all use constantly, about almost anything. Words like: go, more, stop, want, help, that, not, like, put, all done. Researchers who count these things find that a few hundred core words make up the large majority of what any of us says in a day.

What makes them powerful is flexibility. “More” works for crackers, tickles, bubbles, and one more episode. “Stop” works on a swing, in a fight with a sibling, and when grandma’s hug goes too long. A child with twenty solid core words can say something in nearly any situation — including things nobody thought to program in.

Fringe words: the words that make it your child’s voice

Fringe words are the specific ones: dinosaur, applesauce, Bluey, grandma, trampoline. Each one only works in its own territory — you can’t use “applesauce” to negotiate bedtime — but that territory is where your child actually lives.

Fringe gets dismissed as less important because it’s less flexible. Don’t believe it. Fringe words are usually the motivating ones. A board that can say “go” but not “train” is, to a train-obsessed three-year-old, a board about nothing.

Why the mix matters

Picture a board that’s all fringe — forty food photos. Your child can order lunch like a tiny restaurant patron, but they can’t say “no,” “more,” “all done,” or “help.” Now picture all core — endlessly flexible, but nothing about dinosaurs, and so nothing worth saying.

The practical answer is the boring one: both. A useful starter pattern is a stable set of core words your child sees on every board, in the same spots (spot-memory is real — it’s how you type without looking), plus fringe words that rotate with the situation: meal words at meals, park words at the park.

What this means for you this week

• Keep core words in consistent positions as boards change — moving them is like re-scrambling the keyboard every morning.
• When you model, lean on core: tap “go” when the car goes, “stop” at the red light, “more” at snack. Same few words, many settings — that’s how their flexibility clicks.
• Add fringe generously for whatever your child loves right now. Loves and obsessions are not distractions from communication; they’re the fuel.

Core gives your child a grammar; fringe gives them their life. A good board carries both.