FINDING WORDS can be difficult for a child victimized by abuse. Conflicting emotions of fear and love for the perpetrator may cause a child to be reluctant to reveal abuse. If a child tries to speak of abuse, he or she may lack the verbal skills to adequately communicate the event to an adult. FINDING WORDS can be difficult for a police officer, social worker or prosecutor who must speak to a child about abuse. In order to communicate competently with a child, the interviewer must be able to speak in a manner consistent with the child’s linguistic and developmental abilities. FINDING WORDS can be difficult for a child forced to tell a jury about abuse. FINDING WORDS can be difficult for an investigator or prosecutor forced to defend an interview from an attack by defense counsel that the child was “led” into making a false accusation. CHILD FIRST/FINDING WORDS is an intensive five day training course in which students learn the necessary skills to conduct a competent investigative interview of a child abuse victim using the ChildFirst forensic interview process.