Support for Gestalt Language ProcessorS
AND the grown-ups that support them!
WHAT PARENTS ARE SAYING
“We love her in our house for our little GLP! Seriously! She has made such a difference for us and learning to verbally interact PROPERLY with our son and love that her videos are focused on different functional tasks and environments! I steal a lot of her gestalt examples verbatim and even sing her “buckle up” song each day. Many SLP's are not knowledgeable about this language acquisition type. What a wonderful thing she is doing for our community. “
“I wanted to send you a giant THANK YOU for all your videos on gestalt language learning on YouTube. My SLP has said my son is the "poster child for gestalt language learning" and he really is! He uses all your songs to communicate with me! Your videos have helped us grow his speech and learn more about communicating with him! He watches your videos all the time and finds the right videos for what ever task it is he wants to do! It's life changing! Thank you so much for contributing to his development!”
“You're making such a wonderful difference in the world, and I just wanted you to know that! Your YouTube videos have made such a profound difference in our toddlers speech. You have inspired her to take on so many of your scripts and to mitigate them in so many ways every day. I can't thank you enough. I've learned so much through you and how I should be modeling speech.”
What is GESTALT LANGUAGE PROCESSING?
There are two types of language processing. Most people only know about Analytic Language Processing, which is often considered to be the “typical” way to learn language. This is where babies learn to produce sounds, then begin to use single words, and later combine these words into phrases, and then eventually, sentences.
There is another another type of language development called Gestalt Language Processing. This is where a child initially learns language in “chunks” using echolalia (repeating what they have heard). These “chunks” of language (often phrases, sentences, or series of sentences, but can also be single words) are called gestalts. You may also hear gestalts referred to as scripts. Gestalts often include things a child has heard people around them say, in addition to lines or dialogue from videos and movies they’ve watched, lyrics from songs, or lines from books.
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In the early stages of their language development, gestalt language processors (GLPs) are really keyed into the melody and intonation of language (the way our pitch goes up and down when we speak). The intonation pattern is what holds meaning for them. GLPs often produce their gestalts with the same intonation pattern as the original speaker/ source of the gestalt. There is usually a strong emotion (positive or negative) or specific experience attached to these gestalts.
As they move into later stages of language development, they break down these gestalts, or "chunks" into words, and then begin to form their own novel phrases, and sentences, just as an analytic language processor would. GLPs just have a few extra steps to get through initially!
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GLPs often:
Produce speech with rich intonation patterns (variations in voice pitch and tone, may sound “dramatic”) ? *It may be difficult to understand and sound like jargon
Repeat things they hear from people around them as well as from YouTube, movies, books, and songs
Are musical, and like to hum or sing
Use phrases that seemed to be used “out of content” or can’t be taken literally
Like to rewatch certain videos or clips over and over again
Check out the GLP Checklist on my Resource page!
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Consider seeking an evaluation if your child:
Appears “stuck” on using single words (not combining words to form novel phrases) beyond 24 months
Primarily uses echolalia (repeating what they have heard) to communicate beyond 36 months
Demonstrate pronouns reversals (e.g. “you” for “I”, “your” for “my” ) beyond 36 months
Hasn’t responded to “traditional” language strategies
Has difficulty following directions or answering simple questions beyond 24 months
There are many GLPs that develop language without needing support. However, when a GLP does need support, we need to address it differently than we would with an analytic language processor (ALP). Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) is a framework that outlines the stages of language development for GLPs, and guides adults in supporting GLPs on their language learning journey.
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No. It is possible to be a GLP and not be autistic. The reason that GLP and autism are so often talked about in unison is because most autistic people are GLPs, and many autistic fall into that group of GLPs that need support.
"Out of my passion for supporting gestalt language development, grew my passion project: Playtime with Tor. I started a YouTube channel to support Gestalt Language Processors and all of the grown-ups that support them!"
