SPEECH THERAPY TREATMENT FOR JARGON & ECHOLALIA: Gestalt Language Processors

Kelli Meyer M.Ed, CCC-SLP, Pediatric Speech Language Pathologist
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Hi guys, It's Kelli, and welcome back to my channel! :) I hope these videos are helpful for you to work with your little ones at home! Leave a comment below with your questions, comments & video suggestions!

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// Speech Therapy for Decreasing Jargon and Echolalia:
Helpful for Children who are Gestalt Language Processors!

** PLEASE NOTE THAT GESTALT LANGUAGE PROCESSING IS NOT EXCLUSIVE TO AN AUTISM DIAGNOSIS**

What does typical language development look like? Learning 1 word at a time, beginning with 1-5 words, increasing to 50-100 through single word acquisition, then combining 2 words together, and finally speaking in short sentences and answering questions (3-5 words and WHAT questions)

What does a child who is a Gestalt Language Processor look like?
Gestalt language processors learn language in chunks rather than one word at a time. These children learn phrases and then generalize those phrases to every time they have a similar experience or something that reminds them of that phrase. Instead of learning "dog," then "big dog" and finally "Wow! that's a big dog!" Gestalt Language Processors will hear a parent/tv show/song say this one to time, and then say that same phrase every time they see a dog! (vs. just saying "dog") This causes confusion because parents often times thing that a child is (receptively) understanding everything that they are saying, when in fact, their expressive language skills are presenting as much higher than what they actually understand.

As described in Natural Language Acquisition on the Autism Spectrum: A journey from Echolalia to Self-Generated Language (Marge Blanc, 2012), there are four primary stages of language development among gestalt language processors. They are summarized below.

The Six Stages of Natural Language Acquisition (Blanc, 2012)
Use of complete gestalts (or scripts) that are repeated directly back or reused later.
Ex: “Let’s get out of here.”
Ex: “Want some more?”
1. ECHOLALIA
2. MITIGATED ECHOLALIA
3. ISOLATION OF THE SINGLE WORD
4/5/6.BEGINNING GENERATIVE GRAMMAR​​

//JARGON //

What is Jargon? Jargon is long strands of unintelligible speech, often followed by a single word that is understood and used appropriately. Ex: baklalakhg car!

Is Jargon typical in language development? YES. Jargon is typical between ages 12 months and peaks at 18 months, while decreasing until it has completed faded out and has been replaced by a combination of true words at age 2 (combining 2-3 words together).

When Jargon CONTINUES after 18-24 months, and when it is not directed towards a person in a communicative attempt, we begin to recognize that a child might actually be using a gestalt (or script). OR they simply do not have enough vocabulary to express what they are trying to say.

SO, HOW DO WE DECREASE JARGON and INCREASE VOCABULARY?

We PROVIDE and MODEL the words using the same pitch, intonation and syllable structure that they are using (i.e. "I see a red car!") to describe the experience or message that you think they are trying to relay! We also can SIMPLIFY their intended meaning by offering just 1-2 single words and directing the words TOWARDS a person using a shift/share attention approach (i.e. "LOOK! CAR!") to ENGAGE and attempt to communicate a message.

// ECHOLALIA:

What is echolalia? Echolalia is the repeating of words/phrases/questions/answers exactly the way it was presented. (i.e. "What do you want for lunch? Chicken or Ham?" Child: Chicken or ham," OR "yes or no?" "yes and no" OR "Bye Tommy!" Child: "Bye Tommy!") Echolalia can be immediate (happen right away) or it can be delayed (a child repeats something later on that was said earlier). Is Echolalia normal in language development? YES, it peaks at 30 months and decreases from 2.5 years to age 3, as a child learns to answer questions and make comments indepdently.

Jargon and Echolalia can be delayed in decreasing in a child with a speech delay.

WATCH this video to see TREATMENT APPROACHES and ideas (bc I'm out of characters to write!)

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE, LEAVE A COMMENT & HIT THUMBS UP! :)

[thewayteacher]

I have to tell you… you were called for this. The passion is legitimate. Any child that has you as teacher is blessed.

[samanthamuaze]

I’m so happy you posted this a lot of people would assume “autism “ which isn’t always the case just late speakers

[PlaySayLLC]

I really like how you explained Gestalt Language Processors. I will definitely share this to parents.

[mydahoffmeyer]

Great video! I really love how you explain it, get to the point quickly and provide great examples. I tend to stop watching videos because they take too long to explain/get to the point but you did awesome!! Thank you!

[joemc]

Very interesting, My mother told me I was 4 years old before I started to talk. I kind of missed learning to sound out a word so I have always had trouble reading outlaid. Then on top of this I started School when I was 5 years old, my birthday is in late September. So all through school I had a hard time trying to keep up. Only in the last two years after talking to my younger brother have I started to realize these things. My mother tried to get help for me. I had several Reading tutors over the years. Finally I was held back in the ninth grade but I think it was too late. By the way I am retired, own my home, I think I was successful because Of hard work.

[scz]

Thank you for this video. It was very helpful mt child is past 30 months and is using a significant amount of echolalia and jargon. This is helpful.

[incredivoice]

This is very helpful., my son is a gestalt processor and he's just starting his speech therapy
This is a very good guide on how to continously do it at home

[Ink]

Great timing. Our toddler (2 years, 9 months) still uses a lot of jargon. She'll look up at us and point at something she is trying to talk about. Great advice :)

[dollydagger]

My kid is 8, he's been reading since 2, but was considered nonverbal till 6 almost 7, at 6 he started saying yes and no, he doesn't like playing with others, and even though he uses echo and jargon, he was reading at 6th grade level at 5. Once homeschooling, he started speaking, his issue seems anxiety driven and he'd make choking sounds when upset, Once able, he told me his throat is closing, then I found out about aphasia and dysphagia. He stopped the choking sounds but it's definitely an indication he's upset. When your throat closes, you can't talk, and whatever you were going to say is gone and forgotten. He also loves different languages, he can speak Spanish and Russian very well, and he speaks English well, the words just don't always go with the situation.

[Natisha]

I'm so thankful, I found your page. You are amazing. I needed to see this video.

[yvettesticca]

I am a speech pathologist working in early intervention. I love to share these videos with parents to give them more information on a topic I introduced, to given them a way to receive the information at a time they are able to spend the time to really understand and "digest" it. Sometimes that's hard for them to do while the child is present like during our sessions. So, thank you very much for making these!
in early intervention, I find children don't always have the autism diagnosis yet. So I hesitate to share a video that states echolalia and gestalt language processing is "how someone with autism communicates." I have found that many children use analytic processing or gestalt processing, or even a combination of the both, whether they are autistic or not. My point being that the information in this video would be beneficial to parents of early language learners whether their child is diagnosed autistic, not yet diagnosed, or maybe even never will be diagnosed. And having the statements at the beginning about "this is how many children with autism learn language, " may make a parent not want the great information you're sharing.

[heeyitsjesss]

Im in grad school right now and boy do I wish I had someone like you as my clinical instructor!! Feeling so unsupported during our treatment sessions, I turn to YouTube videos for ideas on therapy

[karenlee]

Thanks Kelli!! Have just started grad school in SLP and these are super helpful tips!

[leahpodlewski]

Wasted years of speech therapy with my son and I have already learned more from this video than them.

[kairu]

This is great, my son is in speech therapy and using lots of echolalia to communicate. Our speech therapist uses analytical strategies but will start modelling this for him and look more into gestalt.

[elnazkarimi]

Tank you for sharing this video with us, i love your passion while you’re speaking…

[claireDW]

I found this video really good. My daughter has autism. She’s just turnt 5. She started regressing at around 15 months. She sings a lot, her words aren’t as clear as they used to be, but you can understand her and she tries to correct herself. She has recently been requesting ‘drink’ ‘crumpets’ ‘car’ etc and the last few days ‘feed ducks’ ‘is it bath time?’ Is her longest and most used sentence as she loves a bath. But she cannot answer questions yet. Although I think she understands. She’s very hyper and it’s hard to keep her sitting for an activity which I think makes them barrier for her to soak up more understanding

[ItzfrankayYT]

Always so helpful! Your videos make so much difference! Thank you 🙏

[leahsimmons]

Wonderful video for SLPs and families! Thank you so much!

[lallic]

I've been searching for something that explains where my 3 year old is right now. He has a good number of words in his vocabulary, can make all the sounds, knows his letters, etc. but still uses a lot of jargon when we attempt conversation or he just repeats the standard response that he is used to hearing and jumbles a lot of the words. I've slowly started recognizing more real words mixed in the jargon and getting him to form more complete thoughts. This was great!! Anything else that you have on the topic would be awesome! Also, is this a sign of ASD?