I am seeking clarification for distinguishing word retrieval problems as opposed to rapid automatized naming. What is the difference?
They are two sides of the same coin, so to speak. Word retrieval and/or naming is how we describe the challenges that students with dyslexia, language disorder, learning disorder can evidence when speaking. (These challenges can also affect writing. Individuals can have difficulty effectively accessing a specific word from their lexicon that they have stored in memory. We all have word retrieval/naming problems at some time. You've probably experienced not being able to come up with a word or name at one time or another. An individual with particular word retrieval challenges may use a lot of fillers (“um, er, uh”) and non-specific words such as “thing”or “it” when trying to communicate a thought. He may have to repeatedly revise what he is trying to say before getting to the point. This can be very frustrating if it happens frequently.
Rapid automatic naming (RAN), which can be one of the factors in reading disorder, similarly requires one to access words (letters or sounds) in storage. We test RAN by having the individual name pictured objects, letters, or numbers as quickly (and as accurately) as they can. Naming speed has been associated with a variety of reading skills, and in particular, it has been found to be closely related to sight word recognition, reading rate, and orthographic skill (i.e., understanding and facility with letter patterns and spelling rules). Individuals with dyslexia who have RAN challenges tend to be slower at decoding and spelling, even after their phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge skills improve. It is particularly important that these individuals receive an accommodation that includes additional time, for example, when responding to questions in class, writing a response, spelling a word, or taking tests.
Here's some information about word retrieval and naming.
