If the child has difficulty retrieving the word he/she wants to use you can try the following strategies:

Try cuing your child with the initial sound to help him/her remember, for example ‘It begins with a b…’ Try cuing with a lead in phrase or sentence, for example ‘You drink your water from a…’. See if he/she can use gesture to convey the word, for example ‘Show me what you do with it?’ Encourage the child to describe the object or its function or something about the word, for example

‘What does it look like?’ or ‘What do you do with it?’. See if the child can draw the object or write the word. Use a forced alternative if you feel you know the word your child is trying to remember, for example ‘Is

it a bottle or a cup?’

Children with word finding difficulties need to be taught the following strategies to help them when they get stuck.

It can help to consider the meaning information about a word and the sound information about a word.

Practice using these strategies with the child and then encourage them to find the ones that are most helpful to them.

Meaning information

Description ‘What does it look like ?’

Context ‘Where would you find it?’

Function ‘What does it do?’

Category ‘What group does it belong to?’

Similarity ‘What else is like this?’‘Use a similar word’

Association ‘What does it make you think of?’

Sound information

Strategies to support word finding difficulties

Initial ‘What sound does the word start with?’

Length ‘Is it a long word or a short word?’

Sounds ‘Can you think of other sounds in the word?’

Rhyme ‘Can you think of a word to rhyme with it?’

Rhythm ‘Can you clap how many syllables it has?’

Gesture

Encourage the child to use gesture to try to show what the word is and this may prompt them to recall the word.

Visualise

Some children also find it helpful to visualise the word. Encourage them to generate a picture of the item in their mind to help them remember the word.

Circumlocution

Encourage the child to talk around the word and convey the meaning by giving additional information, for example if the child says ‘You know the person who looks after animals when they’re sick’, the adult can say ‘Oh yes you mean the vet’. Praise a child who has been able to use this strategy and check later on to see if the child has remembered the word.

Prompt card

Older children and young people may find it useful to keep a word finding prompt card in their pocket or planner (see below)

THINK OF MEANING:- Describe it- What does it do?- Where do you find it?- What group does it belong to?- What else is like it?- What does it make you think of?

THINK OF SOUND:- Is it a short word or a long word?- What sound does it start with?- Can you think of any other sounds in the word?- Can you think of a word (real/nonsense) to rhyme with it?- How many syllables does it have?