From Echolalia and Scripting to Original Speech: Top Strategies for Gestalt Language Processors

“My child isn’t talking yet but he can sing songs or repeat lines/scripts from movies.”

Or…

“My child simply repeats what everyone else says.”

These are the kinds of things I hear from parents of children who are learning language….

….differently.

See, it turns out there are two main ways that children learn language.

Some children learn language one word at a time.

Other children, learn language in chunks by repeating whole sentences or scripts that they hear elsewhere.

These children are called Gestalt Language Processors.

I’m speech-language pathologist Carrie Clark and on today’s episode of The Speech and Language Kids Podcast, I’m going to share my top 6 steps for helping those gestalt language processors find their voice.

Listen to the Podcast Here

You can listen to the full podcast episode below:

What are Gestalt Language Processors?

Children who learn language in chunks or scripts known as “gestalts”.

They may repeat entire phrases, sentences, or scripts that they have heard from other places.

These still have meaning to them but it may not be the same meaning as the specific words would lead you to believe.

Signs that a Child May be a GLP:

Here’s where it gets tricky: if a child isn’t speaking much (or at all), it can be hard to tell which way they are learning language.

Here are some signs you may be working with a GLP (and therefore want to model more language chunks instead of single words):

• Melodic way of speaking with a lot of variation in intonation (even if you can’t understand the words)


• Tend to say things the same way every time


• Like to sing songs


• Love categories of language, like farm animals, shapes, letters, numbers, etc.


• Like to play the same way every time or re-enact scenes

GLP Strategy 1: Become a Detective!

Often the gestalts that children are saying are trying to convey something other than what the words literally mean.

For example, a child who says “do you wanna build a snowman” may not be trying to tell us about snowmen at all.

Maybe they are remembering how they saw that movie with their grandma and they want to talk about her instead.

Pay attention to the things the child is saying and try to guess what the actual meaning may be.

Even if you’re not sure, respond anyway!

These scripts are communication and we need to respond to the child to let them know we understand that they are trying to connect with us.

GLP Strategy 2: Follow the Child’s Lead and Imitate

Therapy for this group is not drill and practice.

It’s about letting the child lead the play or interaction and being there to model language along the way.

Imitate what the child does and says.

Respond to their communications even if you don’t understand.

GLP Strategy 3: Use Statements and Silence

GLPs grab chunks of language by listening for pauses on either end.

Model simple sentences with silence on either end, such as…

silence ~ It’s snack time. ~ silence