Is Your Child a Gestalt Learner?

Let’s talk about Gestalt language processing

BY JULIA WALKER M.A., CCC-SLP

Did you know there are two ways to develop language as a child? Analytic language development is the kind of language development taught in college to teachers and speech-language pathologists and the kind of development one reads about in parenting books. Analytic language processors learn language by acquiring single words, then two-word combinations, then three- to fourword combinations, and so on. Single words carry individual meaning and serve as single units. Gestalt language development is another natural way to learn language.

Gestalt language processors learn language by using chunks of words that serve as a single unit (e.g., “To infinity and beyond”). They are considered “intonation babies” because they identify with the sound of the language they hear rather than the words. At least 84% of autistic people learn language in this manner (Rydell, P. and B. Prizant (1995). However, one doesn’t have to have a diagnosis of autism to develop language as a gestalt processor.

Let’s talk about how to identify gestalt language learners. There are four distinct speech types to look for, and a child may use only one or two or all of them.

LONG SCRIPTS: These are the easiest children to recognize. They use delayed scripts they may have heard from videos, books, movies, TV shows, YouTube videos, etc. It may be used in and out of context. For example, they say “To infinity and beyond” every time they want to watch Toy Story or any time they want to watch a video in general.

SINGLE WORDS: These children can be difficult to recognize. They can label or name many items and may respond with single words to questions or prompts, but these single words are stuck. They are unable to combine these single words with other words to expand their utterances. For example, “cow” is used every time they see a large animal or even to label grandpa, who raises cows. They have picked up this single word to have a much larger meaning and now use it to label every animal. They cannot build upon this single word to create “big cow,” “brown cow,” etc.

RICH INTONATION: Children who use rich intonation may be difficult to understand, but the intonation they’re using gives it away. If you tune in, it may sound like a line from their favorite TV show, a song, etc. For example, “Happy birthday!” The child says this with the same intonation and high emotion that is typically used when saying/ singing this during a party. They often use this gestalt to initiate interactions.

Unintelligible Long Strings

OF LANGUAGE: This is the trickiest to determine. These children are frequently said to be using “jargon.” But if you investigate and tune in to what they’re consuming every day (TV shows, YouTube videos, songs, etc.), you can hear that these long strings of unintelligible language are actually a gestalt. The reason their language is unintelligible is that they haven’t motorically caught up yet to these long strings of language and have a harder time hearing the word unit, so it all sounds like a big jumble to those who don’t know or understand gestalt language processing. For example: “Igonnagooutside.” When it’s pronounced like this, it is hard to understand, but they are repeating a line they’ve heard in their favorite video.

If you feel that your child is a gestalt language learner, it would be beneficial to find a speech pathologist/speech therapist who is trained and certified in gestalt language learning, also known as Natural Language Acquisition framework. An assessment would then be initiated by the therapist by collecting spontaneous language samples during child-led, play-based interactions and also from spontaneous language samples collected at home. The language samples are examined to determine which gestalt level type the child is primarily using, and therapy goals are determined based on that information. Ongoing sessions are also play-based and child-led, and within each session, language is modeled by the clinician at the appropriate stage of gestalt language development. As the child hears the models, they may store them in memory for later use as necessary. The goal of the Natural Language Acquisition framework is to help the child develop through each stage to the eventual use of selfgenerated language. However, Scan to watch stage 1 Gestalt it is important to note that most gestalt language learners may occasionally revert to the use of scripts when they become stressed or otherwise dysregulated. When children are treated by well-meaning therapists who don’t understand NLA and instead use analytic language approaches, the child may get stuck in a stage and/or develop self-generated language more slowly than if they had seen an NLA-certified therapist.

This article is based on information that can be found on Meaningfulspeech.com, including research notes and more video clips for each gestalt level as well as a NLA trained SLP registry. If you are interested in learning more about receiving therapy from an NLA-certified speech therapist, please contact positiveinteractionstherapy@gmail.com or follow Positive Interactions at https://www.facebook. com/juliewalkerslp or https://www.instagram.com/ positiveinteractionstherapy.