"If it feels like your child’s language doesn’t follow the usual development pattern, then this is the book for you. Ali provides us with the tools to help our children to develop spontaneous language. My son is one of the children in this book and the joy on his face when he creates new language is something that I treasure. There is so much hope embedded in the GLP approach to speech therapy and it demands that we provide so much more than functional language to our children. Above all though, it allows our children to be children while we are doing it."
Charlotte Beavitt, parent
"Ali's approach is empathic, flexible, sensitive, trusting and fun. With her deep understanding of Gestalt Processing, she has met our 6 year old son exactly where he is on his speech development journey. Alihas mindfully equipped us as a family, with the tools and knowledge that benefits us,while not overwhelming us.
Our son is always so excited to go to 'Ali's house'! for his therapy sessions.
There is no doubt, in the words of Barry Prizant, Ali 'get's it'. "
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"Ali’s book is an absolutely fantastic and accessible resource for parents of gestalt language processors. It’s highly informative, clear and detailed and breaks down the complexities of the stages into a comprehensible and practical way. Reading through the chapters resonated with our first-hand experience as parents and was both validating and eye-opening in allowing us to learn and understand more. The use of case studies is especially useful to trace through language samples and understand the different stages of natural language acquisition. Ali is incredibly knowledgeable in this field and her book is a must-have for understanding gestalt language processing and how to provide the right support in a neurodiversity-affirming way."
Michelle, parent
"An essential resource for speech and language therapists, educators and parents, this book on gestalt Language processing offers a comprehensive journey through the stages and nuances of how some children acquire language. With its clear explanations, real life case studies, and practical strategies, it empowers readers to feel confident supporting gestalt language development. Ali’s depth of knowledge and passion for the subject shines throughout the book. She makes complex theories easy to understand. This book is an invaluable guide for anyone dedicated to supporting Gestalt Language Processors."
Julie Holmes, Speech and Language Therapist
"This book is so positive and detailed. As I read it, I was able to think about and reflect on children I work with. This book encourages our intuition as therapists; to develop a trusting relationship with a child; to allow space, to be in their world and take time to ‘get (understand) them. This has lifted me and made me optimistic for my future support of children who may be GLPs."
See AlsoManage Process DefinitionsKathryn Seeney, Speech and Language Therapist
"Ali’s book has helped me immensely to understand the phenomenon that is Gestalt Language Processing. I knew about GLP previously but was too under-confident to start to really embrace this in my sessions. As a private Speech and Language Therapist, I feel I should “know it all” to advise my commissioners. Ali’s book has made me feel at ease knowing this doesn’t have to be the case as I now appreciate, we are ALL still learning about GLP. Ali enables calm reading with her examples and gives excellent practical advice for easy-to-use takeaways."
Becky Sherrington, Speech and Language Therapist
"Such a helpful read! As someone who is new to working with GLP, this book gave me such insight into how everything works and some wonderful ideas on activities to do at each stage. Would highly recommend!"
Maddi English, Speech and Language Therapist
"A comprehensive guide to supporting Gestalt Language Processors, this valuable resource has everything you need to know about working with Gestalt Language Processors and providing support in a neurodiversity affirming way, it explains everything you need to know about GLP in a really accessible way with loads of practical ideas and solutions."
Jess Wates, Speech and Language Therapist
"Ali cuts through a complex set of ideas to make it easily understood by the reader. The easy read format has led me to feel confident in beginning to use the theory with my own clients and keen to learn more about this interesting but very practical approach."
Hazel Howell, Speech and Language Therapist
"GLP can be daunting and seem complex. This book is so practical, with easy to understand examples that help everyone to understand the stages of NLA. The section of scoring was especially helpful: it allows us to gain an accurate sample for scoring and setting goals for practice."
Karen Royle, Speech and Language Therapist
"This is a generous, well-researched and highly accessible resource. As well as providing background information, further reading recommendations and useful handouts, it contains clear and user-friendly advice on how to deliver interventions; from how to take case histories, to assessment, to monitoring and measuring progress, with a firm emphasis throughout on the importance of taking a person-centred approach."
Juliette Goodman, Speech and Language Therapist
FAQs
What is gestalt language processing in autism? ›
Gestalt Language Processing is, as defined by AssistiveWare, “a form of language development that starts with whole memorized phrases to single words.” This means that the child learns the meaning of individual words through phrases, or “chunks”, that include that word, as opposed to the word itself.
What is natural language acquisition gestalt? ›Natural language acquisition is also a hierarchical development of language that can be anticipated based on previous and current stages. Many children diagnosed with autism are gestalt language processors, but natural language acquisition is not exclusive to autism.
What is the NLA approach to autism? ›NLA is based on the idea that delayed echolalia is raw source material that GLPs use to acquire language. NLA asserts developmental stages and provides recommendations for language assessment and support. NLA's theory, stages, and clinical recommendations are evaluated in the following sections.
What percentage of autistic people are gestalt language processors? ›But I keep using that word 'stuck' in quotes, because some kids aren't naturally moving through the stages on their own. So, a lot of our kids, especially our autistic individuals that we work with, because about 75% to 85% are gestalt language processors, according to Dr. Barry Prizant's research.
Do autistic gestalt learners catch up? ›The “Why” of Echolalia: Gestalt Language Processing
Compared with kids who are born analytic processors, NT gestalt processors develop self-generated language later, but do catch up. Spectrum kids progress from echolalia to self-generated language later still—but go through the same process.
Talk about what gestalt language processors need.
Acknowledge all of their communication without trying to correct it or force them to say something different. We can acknowledge their communication by smiling, nodding our heads, repeating what they said back to them, or saying “yea” or “o*kay”.
If you hear your child using “chunks of language” or phrases without seeming to understand the meaning of the individual words, he or she may be using gestalt language processing and echolalia.
What is an example of a gestalt language? ›A gestalt language processor learns language in chunks of words rather than one single word at a time. For example, rather than analytic language learning of “car”, to “red car”, then eventually “It's a red car!”.
What are the 4 stages of natural language acquisition? ›He defined four stages of gestalt language acquisition, noting that the process begins with using whole language gestalts at Stage 1, then segmenting gestalts (mitigation) at Stage 2, moving on to isolating single words at Stage 3, and finally developing self-generated grammar at Stage 4 (Prizant, 1983).
Which three methods are used for managing autism? ›- Behavioral management therapy.
- Cognitive behavior therapy.
- Early intervention.
- Educational and school-based therapies.
- Joint attention therapy.
- Medication treatment.
- Nutritional therapy.
- Occupational therapy.
What is the best approach for autism? ›
Behavioral approaches have the most evidence for treating symptoms of ASD. They have become widely accepted among educators and healthcare professionals and are used in many schools and treatment clinics. A notable behavioral treatment for people with ASD is called applied behavior analysis (ABA).
What is the best protocol for autism? ›The Nemechek Protocol for Autism and Developmental Delay is the most scientific and refined approach to reversing the devastating effects of autism, ADD, ADHD, SPD and the myriad of other developmental disorders.
What is the problem with gestalt language processing? ›Contrary to the analytic language processor, a Gestalt language processor has more difficulty generalizing their use of Gestalt to multiple contexts. While they may use long sentences, they do not understand the words that make up the sentences, nor do they understand the grammar used.
Do gestalt language processors speak normally? ›When children are very young and in Stage 1 of gestalt language development, they are often unintelligible. Their gestalts may sound like intonationally defined strings of language or “jargon.” This is because they are using language that is too long for most children that age to produce intelligibly.
Can neurotypical children be gestalt language processors? ›Gestalt language development is most commonly seen in children with autism, but can be found in neurotypical children as well. In this form of language development, children learn language by using delayed echolalia. Delayed echolalia refers to an utterance that is repeated following a period of time.
How to tell if a child is a gestalt language processor? ›If you hear your child using “chunks of language” or phrases without seeming to understand the meaning of the individual words, he or she may be using gestalt language processing and echolalia. In the past, echolalia was thought to have no true meaning.
Is gestalt language the same as echolalia? ›Delayed echolalia is a part of gestalt language development, whereas immediate echolalia is not. Both kinds of echolalia are meaningful and serve different functions. Even though immediate echolalia is not a part of gestalt language development, many gestalt language processors often use immediate echolalia.
What are gestalt processing phrases? ›Many times, these gestalts are lines from songs, books, movies, or TV shows the child is exposed to. For example, the child may say “blast off!” each time they want to play with rockets because that is a phrase they have heard many times while playing with rockets or watching a show about rockets.
