LITTLE SPEECH LIFE

Language Development!

ANALYTIC LANGUAGE PROCESSING & GESTALT LANGUAGE PROCESSING!

BOTH are TYPICAL and BOTH may or may not need intervention.

Let’s start with analytic language processing or ALP. This is when a child learns language ONE WORD at a time and once they have a large 50+ bank of single words, they begin to combine them together; “go car”, “eat banana”, “no eat”, “blue car”, “shoe on”, “go eat cracker”, “me eat blueberry”, “go park now” etc. The words build on each other and the utterances become longer until eventually we are telling narratives, asking and answering questions, and using many different communicative INTENTS (meaning: ways in which we use language; to request, comment, label, protest, ask and answer questions, exclaim, joke, state emotions etc).

I like to think of ALP as a stair case:

1. The child builds their bank of words or rolodex if you will.
2. Then when they have ENOUGH (50+; you have to have enough VARIETY to begin making combinations. You can’t do much with “up, milk, eat, shoe, book, me”.)
3. They then begin to make longer sentences.
4. Then we can begin combining sentences until we have short narratives/stories and the ability to answer questions with a more complex thought.
5. Until lastly we are having a complex conversation.

Now, a few key points:

*You have to have ENOUGH words to build combinations.

*You have to have a VARIETY of words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, pronouns, articles, etc.) to make combinations that support different COMMUNICATIVE INTENTS.

SO….

What do we do when a child gets stuck and needs intervention to assist with moving to the next stair on the stair case. Either needing MORE WORDS, A LARGER VARIETY, ASSISTANCE WITH COMBINATIONS, PUTTING THEM TOGETHER FOR A COHESIVE NARRATIVE, OR ASKING OR ANSWERING QUESTIONS???

We support them by either building a larger bank, pairing words together, stringing sentences together cohesively; wherever they need assistance AND sometimes that may mean going back a staircase or two to fill some gaps.

WE SUPPORT THESE SAME FUNDAMENTALS WITH OUR GESTALT LANGUAGE PROCESSORS BUT THE MODELS WE PROVIDE OUR DIFFERENT!

So let’s talk about Gestalt Language Processing!

Gestalt Language Processing refers to when a child starts with large chunks of language, also called scripts such as “for real life!”, “The ferris wheel is my favorite!”, “Oh no, the car broke down!” that are directly pulled from media (youtube, movies, shows), siblings, parents, teachers etc. They are heavy in INTONATION (melodic, prosodic) because they are directly replicated from the one who said them. They are typically from an emotional scene or attached to a specific experience.

So for example, if an ALP and a GLP were both flying on an airplane and a few days later see an airplane toy at home, the ALP may say “go airplane!”, “airplane is fun” or “airplane up!” and the GLP may say “everybody take your seats”, “flight attendants, prepare for landing”, “what would you like to drink?”, “please put your trays in the upright position”, “fasten your seatbelt”, “store your laptops” or “do you have any garbage?”. These are all scripts that we hear on an airplane AND are very specific to that experience and may stick, ESPECIALLY if it is a new experience. Additionally, they may be used with the exact intonation of the pilot, or flight attendant.

So let’s think of GLP as a V: We start with a chunk, have to break it down into single words, then re-work those words into something of our own!

There are multiple stages per Marge Blanc, the author of, “Natural Language Acquisition on the Autism Spectrum: The Journey to Self- Generated Language.”

1. Stage 1: We begin with large chunks of language or scripts.
2. Stage 2: Then we change a few words here and there or combine parts of scripts together.
3. Stage 3: We break down the scripts into single words and begin using NOUN + NOUN combos and NOUN + ADJECTIVE combinations. This is the child’s pointing phase!
4. Stage 4: We combine a few of these now SINGLE WORDS into a NOVEL (new and ENTIRELY THEIR OWN-NOT SCRIPTED) phrase or sentence.
5. Stages 5-6: the continued progression of grammar into a variety of complex sentences and stories.

Sometimes our kiddos get stuck in a stage and need help moving to the next step just like our analytic language processors! However, as said above, our models are going to look different!

So before we move on to stage breakdowns and how to provide appropriate interventions for gestalt language processors, I want to touch on the MOST IMPORTANT part… CONNECTION and ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of communication, which I will talk about in the next post!

Thank you for reading!

*I want to mention that I am an NLA trained clinician through the Meaningful Speech Course and my knowledge of Gestalt Language Processing comes from the training in that course. With that knowledge, I provide direct therapy with Gestalt Language Processors every day using strategies from that course.