Let’s Wash Our Hands! Modeling Gestalts in Daily Routines

If you are a parent or a professional supporting a gestalt language processor (GLP), you may already know that GLPs initially learn language differently — through larger, meaningful chunks (gestalts), not single words that they put together to make phrases. You might hear your child use scripts from shows, songs, familiar phrases, or repeated lines they’ve heard before. Your child may have trouble answering questions and they may repeat the whole question or the last word back to you. If your child is nonspeaking and uses AAC, you may have noticed that they are drawn to music, or that they have not made progress expressing themselves by selecting different one-word buttons to create a sentence.

In this post, we’ll look at five everyday routines where you can model Stage 1 (full-phrase) and Stage 2 (early mitigations - think “mix and match”) gestalts for both speaking children and AAC communicators.

What Are Stage 1 and Stage 2 Gestalts?

Have you heard of the Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) (Blanc 2012) approach? It was developed by Marge Blanc and it provides a guide for language development for GLPs that includes four initial stages. Today we’ll talk about the first two stages.

If your child is in Stage 1, a lot of the time they are most likely using full, memorized phrases, maybe from a favorite Youtube video or something that you said. They often repeat these phrases with the same intonation as when they first heard the phrase. AAC users may link together several buttons on their AAC the same way repeatedly in a way that may not seem to make sense to us.

The language in Stage 1 can often seem “off topic” or “irrelevant” to us, such as talking to a child about a train set you’re playing with and they respond with “Like and subscribe!” However, keep in mind that Stage 1 gestalts are not meaningless. They tend to hold great meaning for a child, since Stage 1 phrases are those that are picked up and repeated by the child during a moment of emotion. “Like and subscribe” may mean “I’m excited!” or “This is fun” if they felt that when they watched the video they picked that up from. Even though what they’re saying may not seem to make sense to us, it’s up to us to understand where the phrase came from and what the phrase could mean to the child.

In Stage 2, children begin to mitigate, which means they’re learning to change or shorten those longer chunks, and then they begin to mix and match the chunks of language to create new phrases. They might start saying a version of the original phrase, like changing “Let’s do it again!” to “Let’s go again!” and “Let’s draw again!” AAC users may combine buttons such as “Let’s go + outside”, and “Let’s go + store” to create different phrases.

Your job is to provide natural, meaningful language models in different contexts, with no pressure. You’re not asking your child to repeat these models directly. You’re not saying, “Say ____” to get your child to repeat. Think about it as offering your child language to see what resonates with them to imitate. It’s up to your child what resonates with them or what doesn’t. This approach can be so different from approaches that teach language explicitly, such as fill in the blank (ex. You sleep on a ____) or asking questions and teaching children the answers (ex. What is this? It’s a chair. What is it?).

Here are five simple routines that you’re probably already doing where you can model gestalts. There are no “right” gestalts to model - each child is different - and these are only suggestions. Even with your own child, you probably won’t know what language your child will want to imitate. You will need to offer some new language first, and then see what they pick up on their own. Here are some ideas to get you thinking!

AAC tip: You can modify your child’s AAC program to better fit a GLP learning style. Check out my blog post for ideas!

1. ☀️Morning Routine (Getting Dressed, Brushing Teeth)

If your child is mostly repeating langauge verbatim from the source, Stage 1 models may be appropriate. Try to model in the child’s voice and try to avoid the pronoun “you.” This can be hard if you’re used to talking to your child using “you” or asking your child questions such as “Do you want to…”

So instead of saying “you’re getting ready!” you’d model “Let’s get ready!” If you model “you’re” and the child imitates this verbatim from you, it’s possible that the child will use “you” when they mean “I.” This is called pronoun reversal, and it can happen because the child is picking up an entire phrase, such as “pick you up” when you say, “Let me pick you up,” when they mean “pick me up.” You can try to avoid this by modeling in your child’s voice, the way they might say it.

In Stage 2, mitigations are noted in italics and indicate language that has been switched out from the original gestalt in Stage 1 to make a “mix and match” phrase.

Stage 1 Examples

• “Let’s get ready!”

• “Time to get dressed.”

• “Let’s open the toothpaste.”

• “We did it!”

• “We’re putting on shoes!”

Stage 2 Examples

• “Let’s put it on!”

• “Time to rinse.”

• Let’s open the door.”

• “We got it.”

• “We’re getting ready!”

AAC tip: Some AAC programs have “topics” pages such as “bathroom” where you may find some phrases already programmed. Other programs have Chat or Quickfires pages where you might find some phrases already programmed like “We did it!” or “I like it!”

2. 🍕Mealtime

Mealtimes are rich with sensory experiences, preferences, and shared joy which means lots of opportunities to model gestalts that could be meaningful for your child.

Stage 1 Examples

• “It’s so good!”

• “I’m so hungry!”

• “I’m all done.”

• “Let’s try it!”

Stage 2 Models

• “It’s so yummy!”

• “I’m so full.”

• “I’m finished.”

• “Let’s get it!”

3. 🚗 Car Rides & Transitions

Transitions can be emotionally charged, which actually makes them meaningful moments for gestalt language development.

Stage 1 Examples

• “Here we go!”

• “We’re on our way!”

• “Let’s get in the car.”

• “Let’s do something new.”

• “Time to go.”

Stage 2 Examples

• “Let’s go!”

• “We’re going now!”

• “Let’s drive!”

• “Let’s change it.”

• Time to get in the car.”

4. 🧸 Playtime

Playtime can be a fun way to model gestalts, especially when adults follow their lead instead of directing.

Stage 1 Models

• “This is fun!”

• “Let’s do it again!”

• “Let’s play a game.”

• “It’s big”

• “Time to play catch.”

Stage 2 Models

• “This is awesome.”

• “Let’s do that again.”

• “Let’s play with the ball.”

• “It’s small.”

• “Time to color.”

5. 🛁 Bath Time & Bedtime

Stage 1 Models

• “Let’s get in the bathtub.”

• “It’s so warm.”

• “Time to relax.”

• “It’s time for bed.”

• “Let’s read a book.”

Stage 2 Models

• “Let’s get in the water.”

• “It’s so hot!”

• “Time to get in bed.”

• “It’s time for books.”

• “Let’s turn out the light.”

I hope these examples are helpful! Think about your child and modify these to fit your child’s personality and needs. Main takeaways: Speak from your child’s perspective (instead of You’re so big! say I’m so big!) and reduce the number of questions you ask. Narrate!

Whether you’re a parent or professional and you’re looking for additional support with helping your GLP, I’d love to work with you!

If you’re in Texas, contact me here for AAC/GLP speech therapy services.

If you’re not in Texas, contact me at Parade Learning for support and educational resources.