When my LD son gets into a talking mode, very often he doesn’t appear to find the word he wants to use. At that point his momentum for talking stalls out. When looking at him at a moment like this, the word he wants to use seems like it’s on the edge of his tongue. What might this suggest? Can I help him help himself in these situations?
Re: Disconnect?
It sounds like what’s sometimes called a ‘word retrieval’ issue. Many of us have them - some of us more than others. All of us have them as we age. We know the word… we just can’t pull it up… it’s on the tip of our tongue.
It might also be disorganization in his thoughts or a little glitch in his thoughts to speech transfer.
Is he upset in these moments? Does he resume talking after a short pause?
In any case, I find the best thing is simply to be patient or sometimes to offer what might be the missing word that he’s looking for.
Re: Disconnect?
My son does the same thing, and I know he has a visual picture of what he’s trying to tell you, he can tell you a whole story about someone, just trying to remember their name. I used this as an example, at an IEP meeting, when trying to stress the point that he would do better with mutiple choice tests, it’s like when he hears the word he knows it. But, of course the principal told me….oh all kids are that way. Well, I”ve raised a daughter, I work in the public and yes at times everyone has trouble coming up with what they want to say….but not like he does. Just another example of no one knows your kid like you do. Regardless, of how many degrees that person might hold.
Re: Disconnect?
My daughter has the same problem. I usually try to give her several different words that mean the same when I talk to her so she will be able to choose from several words to recall one.Sometimes giving her the first sound of the word or a definition of what I think it might be so she can use clues to be able to think of what word to use.It is a word retrieval or word finding difficulty. I don’t know if it is associated with her auditory processing disorder but it seems it is a expressive language is a problem.
This sounds like a word retrieval problem to me. With some people it is really serious, while with others it is a minor annoyance. My son has them and so do I, although not as seriously. (I am not LD but my son is). I notice when I am tired or stressed it is worse. I teach and often I am up in front of a class and can’t find the right word. For me, it isn’t a major issue—I find another word or make my class tell me what I am looking for!!!
Beth