Names

For kids who struggle with spoken language, names are tricky.  It’s especially tough when your family lives far away and you don’t see them in person often. When we had family visiting, we would pull out the flash cards.  We could review names and prepare Mikey for who would be coming.

The flash cards were just index cards with a photo of the family member and their name printed below.  We often used three or four different photos and cards for each family member to make sure that Mikey wasn’t just memorizing that one picture.

If your child has Proloquo2Go, you can program buttons with family members’ and friends’ pictures and names.  That allows your child to use the names in real time.

With cousins, they are growing and changing each year so you’ll need new photos.  If you feel self-conscious about asking your family for photos, just screen grab them from social media.  That said, it’s okay to ask…everyone has photos right on their phone and I’m sure they would be happy to text you.

Mikey still struggles to use people’s names outside of our immediate family. We use general phrases like, “Hi, Friends” and “Goodnight, Everybody.” These phrases get Mikey through most simple conversations. Overall, I think people understand that communication is hard for him and they appreciate his efforts.

The Takeaway

Do what you can to help your child learn names and then if it isn’t going well, try not to stress about it too much.