A few days ago in the Facebook Group Core Word of the Day, someone asked if the word wait counted as a core word. It was a great question and one I hadn't been asked before. Over the next few days, I thought about this question and how to answer it.
The truth is, the answer isn't as simple as yes or no. It really depends on how you define a core vocabulary word. I started with the definition that I use in training on core vocabulary and AAC. My team defines a core word as a word from the 200-300 most commonly used words in English. So, I looked at various lists of commonly used English words. On some lists, wait is in the top 200 while on other lists, it doesn't rank in the top 300. It really depends on what list you use but, given that it appears in the top 300 on some lists, you wouldn't be wrong in saying that it could be considered a core word.
There is also a question of the environment of the AAC user. If the AAC user is a student in a classroom setting, the word wait is probably heard very frequently. No matter the age, all humans have times when they find it hard to wait so you will frequently hear the word wait uttered in classrooms and more frequently in classrooms of students who have attention-based challenges. So, a word frequently used in the student's environment which is also one of the top 300 most commonly used words might be a good one to target as a core word.
But there is one more thing to consider and that is who is using the word wait. The purpose of teaching core vocabulary words is that, hopefully, with instruction and exposure, the students might start using those words themselves. So, before you consider adding a word like wait to your core vocabulary instructional rotation, ask yourself if the students are likely to use this word. Are your students showing you behaviorally or in some other way expressing the concept of wait or waiting? Do they have a desire to tell others to wait? If the answer is yes, then by all means consider adding wait to your core word instruction. But, if the only people in the room who need to express the concept of waiting are the instructional staff, then I would not bother to include this word in your core.
When we are considering which words should be part of the core vocabulary, we should consider the needs and preferences of our students first. If we are going to the trouble of teaching a word, the word should be one that the students might see as useful and valuable. We also need to be sure that we aren't confusing core vocabulary words that we are teaching the students to use with visual directions that we want our students to follow. Those are 2 very different things. You can use visual directions to directly teach the concept of waiting as this is an essential skill from which many of our students might benefit. But, if your students don't have the need to say the word wait themselves, it might be best to leave it off of your core board for now.
Adding a word like wait when it is primarily used by the teaching staff to manage behavior poses a few risks. We run the risk of classroom staff forcing our students to say "wait" when really they are just telling them to wait. If go to my boss's office to talk to her and she says "Wait", I don't respond by saying "Wait" back to her. I would respond by saying "OK" or something to indicate that I understood her. If used incorrectly, this has the potential to set up a very unnatural communication exchange. It also sends the message to our students that they should be saying words that are important to us rather than words that are important to them.
So, before you add a word to your core, consider these questions:
1. Is it a commonly used word in English?
2. Is it a flexible word that can be used in multiple settings?
3. Is it used frequently in the student's current settings?
4. Does the student use behavior or other means to try to communicate the concept of this word to others? (ex. puts a hand out to indicate that you should wait while they finish what they are doing)
5. Is this a word that the student wants to use (rather than a word that you want to student to comply with)?
If you answer no to any of these questions, I would not add the word to the classroom core vocabulary.
As to the word wait, I checked out some commonly used apps such as TouchChat Wordpower, TD Snap Core First, TD Snap Motor Plan, LAMP, Proloquo2Go, and Proloquo to see where the word wait was located. Only the new Proloquo app had the word wait on the home page. The rest of the apps had wait available in the actions category and LAMP had it 3 hits away from the home page. Since Proloquo is a new app and the company got feedback from AAC users, perhaps this word has value to nonspeaking individuals. I would imagine that there are many instances when AAC users are rushed instead of given time to process what others are saying and create a message to respond. The word wait has the potential to be a powerful word to regulate social interaction. So add it, don't add it, it's up to you. Just make sure you are doing it for the benefit of your students and their autonomous communication.
