Any professional who has created a communication board, map, or book for a child with complex communication needs has most likely found himself in doubt about the choice of words or symbols for these communication aids. The same problem faced those who had to decide which symbols to model to an individual child out of hundreds offered in one of the high-tech aids.

Vocabulary selection is not a simple process, as it requires the simultaneous combination of multiple sources of information so that the selected vocabulary meets the child's communication needs, supports aided language development, is individualized, and aligns with developmentally appropriate expectations. Appropriate selection of a vocabulary represents a great responsibility for professionals, as the language and communication development of a child who relies on AAC is largely dependent on their choices.

In this presentation, Klara will present research-based guidelines that can help professionals select vocabulary for AAC systems. What is core vocabulary and is it needed for all children, do typical and augmented language development have something in common, can English core vocabulary lists be useful in Croatian? These are just some of the questions that this presentation will try to answer.