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10 %u00a9 Elklan Training Limited 2025Elklan Supporting Gestalt Language Processing %u2013 a Total Communication Approach2.0 GESTALT LANGUAGEPROCESSING2.1 DIFFERENCES IN LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENTResearch by Peters, Prizant, Blanc suggests that children and young people may develop language as either a Gestalt Language Processor or an Analytical Language Processor or both (see the introduction). Whichever way they may be developing language, they may or may not be delayed with their speech, language and communication.Early Stages of Language DevelopmentWhen a child is exposed to language, they first develop language comprehension and then may begin to speak. Both Analytical Language Processors and Gestalt Language Processors use context from familiar situations or routines, environmental cues, and nonverbal communication to support verbal comprehension. Children will hear the repeated use of simple commonly used phrases in their environment and be able to follow simple directions. For the Analytical Language Processor, the emphasis on the key words in these phrases can enhance the development of the understanding and then use of vocabulary. Echoing back the key words is a way in which language development may be reinforced by the Analytical Language Processing child. For example, the adult says %u2018Get in the car%u2019 each time they go to preschool. The child says %u2018car%u2019 and develops the understanding and use of the word %u2018car%u2019. The Gestalt Language Processor may hear the phrase %u2018Get in the car%u2019 and understand the whole experience as an associated meaning i.e. %u2018leaving hurriedly to go out in the car.%u2019 Rather than mapping meaning onto one word, the Gestalt Language Processing child may at a future date say, %u2018Get in the car%u2019 with the same intonation as the parent where the whole phrase means %u2018a sense of %u2018leaving hurriedly%u2019 so if, for example the child senses the teacher at school is hurriedly leaving the class because they are late for assembly, the child may say, %u2018Get in the car%u2019. This is about leaving hurriedly but not about getting in the car which was the source of the gestalt.In the example where the parent says %u2018Get in the car%u2019 and the child repeats it saying %u2018Get in the car%u2019 with the same intonation and sometimes gestures and/or facial expressions, this is said to be an echolalic response. (Echolalia is the direct repetition of what has been said or heard and in Chapter 3 echolalia is described in detail.) The above example %u2018Get in the car%u2019 has meaning, so it is important to recognise the importance of echolalia in the early stages of speech and language development and to respond.