A 4-part series
Understanding Stage 1
What Is Gestalt Language Processing?
Does your child repeat a phrase from their favorite TV show, sing a line from a song, or say something you heard them say earlier in the day?
If so, you may be seeing Gestalt Language Processing (GLP). Some children learn language in larger “chunks,” or gestalts, rather than starting with individual words and building sentences one word at a time. These gestalts can come from anywhere: favorite shows, songs, books, conversations, school, or familiar routines.
For example, a child might say “There’s a lot of traffic!” when two toys are stuck together. To us, the phrase may seem unrelated. But the child may have heard that phrase repeatedly while riding in the car and now uses it to communicate that something is stuck.
A child might also say:
- “To infinity and beyond!”
- “Ready, set, go!”
- “E-I-E-I-O!”
- “Do you want to go outside?”
- “Take a bath.”
- “Cow.”
Even a single word can function as a whole gestalt. For example, “ball” might not simply mean ball. It could mean “Let’s play together!”
You may hear these phrases called “scripting”, “echolalia”, or “repeated language”. Rather than assuming the repetition is meaningless, we can look at the whole picture: What might the child be communicating with this phrase?
Over time, children who use gestalts may begin to break larger chunks of language into smaller pieces and eventually combine those pieces in new ways. This can lead to increasingly flexible, self-generated language. Every child develops language differently, and GLP is one way that children may learn and use language.
What Is Stage 1?
Stage 1 is often described as communicating with whole gestalts.
A gestalt may sound like a complete sentence, a phrase, or even a single word. However, the child may be processing that entire phrase (or word) as one meaningful unit rather than using each individual word in the same way an analytic language learner might.
For example, a child might use (but really mean):
- “Let’s go!”
- “I want to leave”, “I want to go outside”, or even “I want you to come play with me”
- “We have to go home!”
- “I’m overwhelmed” or “I want this activity to end” rather than literally wanting to go home
“Go home” might come from a picture schedule showing a house at the end of a speech or occupational therapy session. The child could then use “go home” to communicate “the activity is finished” rather than “I want to go home”.
*This is why understanding Stage 1 language often requires a little detective work.
What Can Stage 1 Language Sound Like?
Stage 1 can look different for every child. You might notice your child:
- Repeating something immediately after hearing it or later in the day
- Singing part of a favorite song
- Using lines from a favorite movie, show, or video
- Repeating something a parent or teacher frequently says
- Using a phrase that seems unrelated to what is happening
- Using the same phrase during a particular routine
- Using a familiar phrase when excited, frustrated, overwhelmed, or happy
- Using a phrase with a very specific rhythm, melody, tone, or intonation
- Using a single word as a meaningful whole
For example, a child might sing “E-I-E-I-O!” when they see an animal, “Take a bath!” when they want to transition to a new activity, or “Ready, set, go!” when they want someone to start playing with them.
The words may not always seem to match the situation, but the phrase may have a very specific meaning for that child.
“What Does My Child Mean?”
When your child uses a gestalt, try looking beyond the words themselves.
Pay attention to what happens before, during, and after the gestalt.
Ask yourself:
- What was happening when my child said it?
- How did they say it?
- What emotion were they showing?
- What happened immediately before they spoke?
- What happened afterward?
- Were they asking for something?
- Were they trying to get my attention?
- Were they trying to connect or play?
- Were they transitioning between activities?
- Do they use this phrase in other situations?
- Where might they have heard this phrase?
Body language can also provide important clues. Is your child pointing, reaching, moving toward something, looking at you, leaving an activity, or bringing you an object?
For example, if your child says “ball!” while bringing you a ball, they may be asking you to play, not simply labeling the object. You are essentially putting the pieces together to understand the message behind the gestalt.
How Can Parents Support Stage 1?
1. Follow Your Child’s Lead
Connection comes first!
Spend time joining your child’s interests and play rather than immediately trying to teach or change their language. Notice what they enjoy, what catches their attention, and what they are already communicating.
If your child loves trains, join them:
- “The train is going!”
- “The train stopped!”
- “More train!”
- “Time to go!”
If they love animals, sing songs together, read animal books, or play with animal toys.
Following your child’s lead creates natural opportunities for communication and helps build trust and connection. Language models are much more likely to be meaningful when they are built on connection, validation, and understanding the child’s interests.
2. Listen and Acknowledge Their Communication
You do not have to understand every gestalt right away.
If your child says something you don’t understand, you can still acknowledge them:
- “Yeah!”
- “Uh-huh.”
- “I hear you.”
- “You have something to tell me!”
- “I see!”
Try to decrease the pressure to answer questions or repeat language. Sometimes simply listening, observing, and giving your child space can tell you more about what they are communicating.
3. Model Language That Matches the Moment
Once you have a better idea of what your child may be communicating, model language that fits naturally.
- If your child is frustrated because a toy isn’t working: “It’s not working!”
- If they are excited to go outside: “Let’s go outside!”
- If they want to start playing: “Let’s play!”
- If an activity is ending: “Time to go!”
- If they are having fun: “It’s so fun!”
The goal isn’t to make your child repeat the phrase. Instead, you are offering language that is meaningful and connected to what is happening.
For Stage 1, it can be helpful to think in terms of whole phrases, rather than trying to mix and match individual words. Rather than overwhelming a child with lots of different language models, choose a small number of meaningful potential gestalts that start with:
- Let’s
- That’s
- It’s
- I’m
- Time to
- How about
4. Choose Language That Is Useful to Your Child
Think about what your child may want or need to communicate.
For example:
- Want to play? → “Let’s play!”
- Ready to leave? → “Time to go!”
- Having fun? → “It’s so fun!”
- Want to start an activity? → “Let’s go!”
These phrases can eventually be used in many different ways. For example:
“Let’s play!” can later become:
- “Let’s go outside!”
- “Let’s run!”
- “Wanna play?”
“Time to go!” can later become:
- “Time for a bath.”
- “Time to tickle.”
- “Time to fly!”
“It’s so fun!” can later become:
- “It’s so big!”
- “It’s funny.”
- “The playground is so fun.”
This is one reason it is helpful to choose language that is natural, useful, and flexible.
5. Follow Their Interests
Your child’s favorite toys, activities, books, songs, and shows can provide wonderful opportunities for communication (see bullet 1 on following child’s lead).
You don’t need to turn playtime into a therapy session. Join your child, enjoy the activity, and model language that naturally fits.
6. Remember That Communication Is More Than Words
Communication isn’t limited to spoken language.
Your child may communicate through:
- Words and phrases
- Gestalts
- Gestures
- Pointing
- Reaching
- Facial expressions
- Body movements
- Sounds
- Eye gaze
- Moving toward or away from something
Look at all of these pieces together.
A child who says “Let’s go!” while grabbing their shoes and walking toward the door is giving you much more information than the words alone.
What Should Parents Avoid?
It can be tempting to immediately correct a gestalt or ask your child to “say it the right way.”
Instead, try to understand before you correct.
Three common challenges when supporting Stage 1 language are:
- Choosing language before understanding the child.
Start by observing, connecting, and learning what your child is already communicating. - Choosing phrases because they seem useful to the adult.
Instead, think about what is meaningful and useful to your child. - Modeling too much language.
You don’t need to fill every moment with words (silence is okay!). A few carefully chosen, meaningful phrases can be more helpful than constantly modeling lots of different language.
Remember: A phrase you model is only a potential gestalt until your child chooses it for themselves.
Listen. Observe. Respond. Connect.
Stage 1 language may sound different from the language we expect to hear from a child, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t meaningful. When we slow down and look for the meaning behind the words, we can better understand the child behind the gestalt.
Your child’s communication has meaning, even when it doesn’t look the way you expected.
In the next part of this series, we’ll explore Stage 2 of Gestalt Language Processing, when children may begin experimenting with parts of the gestalts they have learned and combining language in new ways.