At Thrive Pediatric Therapy, gestalt language processing is one of our specialties! You may be wondering, what is gestalt language processing? How can I know if my child is a gestalt language processor? We are here to help!
Gestalt language learning is a way that many children develop and use language. It is a natural, normal way of developing language. Children who are gestalt language processors typically learn language in whole “chunks” instead of processing language as single words. Typically, these children engage in immediate or delayed echolalia (e.g., repeating words/phrases/sentences immediately or after a delay). Many autistic children are gestalt language processors; however, if a child is a gestalt language processor, it does not automatically mean they are autistic.
Are you wondering if your child is a gestalt language processor? Here are some ways to tell:
- Your child is not responding well to “traditional” speech therapy approaches.
- Your child has single words that are “stuck” and not progressing to 2-3 word phrases.
- Your child uses long, unintelligible (e.g., hard to understand) strings of language.
- Your child’s speech contains rich intonation.
- Your child produces long “scripts” of language, which could be from songs, videos, movies, television shows, etc.
If any of these things apply to your child, then he/she may be a gestalt language processor! At Thrive Pediatric Therapy, gestalt language processing is one of our specialties. Many of our speech-language pathologists are trained in the Meaningful Speech Natural Language Acquisition approach for gestalt language processing.
If you feel that your child may be a gestalt language learner, call us today to schedule a comprehensive speech and language evaluation. Following the evaluation, your therapist will be able to tell you more about the different types of language processing and how they feel your child is developing language. Then, let’s begin speech therapy! During our interactive, play-based speech therapy sessions, our skilled speech-language pathologists will guide your child toward producing spontaneous, self-generated speech, all while providing you with strategies for working with your child at home to support their speech and language skills.
We can’t wait to meet you! Call us today to find out how we can help your child THRIVE!
