ABSTRACTThere has been a diagnostic gap in the assessment of word‐finding disorders in children. Although research in this area has continued to document strong correlations between word‐finding skills and low reading achievement, dyslexia, language disorders, learning disabilities, and stuttering there have been no formal standardised measures for the assessment of word‐finding skills in children. The purpose of this paper is to present: (1) a diagnostic model for the assessment of word finding; (2) a literature review that supports this model; (3) a formalised measure, the Test of Word Finding (TWF), which executes this diagnostic model for children. The assessment model includes variation in stimulus context (multiple naming sections); incorporates indices traditionally used to define word‐finding problems in adults and children (accuracy, response time, response analysis and secondary characteristics); and provides for a comprehension assessment of naming errors. Components of this model are discussed with respect to stimulus context, target word frequency, nature of the target word and facilitati