Is It Ever Too Late to Support a Gestalt Language Processor?

One of the most common questions we hear is: Is it ever too late to begin using the Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) Framework (Blanc, 2012) to support gestalt language processors (gestalt language processors)? The answer is simple: it’s never too late. There is no cutoff age for using the NLA Framework. However, when working with older gestalt language processors, there are a few important considerations to keep in mind. We also did a question and answer with Marge Blanc on what we know about older gestalt language processors. 

Understanding Older Gestalt Language Processors

Older gestalt language processors often have had years of therapy that treated them as disordered analytic language processors. This can create unique challenges. For example, they may have been taught to focus on single words or rote phrases while their natural communication was ignored or redirected. As a result, supporting older gestalt language processors may need more time and patience, as they may need to “unlearn” previous therapy approaches.

Here are some key things to understand about older gestalt language processors:

• Prompt Dependency: Older gestalt language processors may struggle with initiating communication or using spontaneous language because they are so used to being prompted to communicate. 
• Stuck Gestalts: They may have acquired hundreds of single word gestalts but are unable to expand on these single words as gestalts of any length are not flexible.
• Survival Language: Many older gestalt language processors rely on rote phrases like “I want”, “I need”, “I see” or other “survival language” that were taught to them by well-meaning adults.
• Play and Hobbies: Due to compliance-based or adult-directed therapy , they may not "play" or engage in independent hobbies.
• Long Gestalts: Older gestalt language processors may communicate using long gestalts that they have accumulated over the years that are not easy to mix and match or trim down. This makes it difficult for them to move past stage 1. 
• “Whisper Scripting”: You may hear them quietly repeating gestalts under their breath. This often happens when a child’s natural communication was previously discouraged or dismissed.

How to Support an Older Gestalt Language Processor

The most important thing to remember is that it’s never too late to support a gestalt language processor. Here’s how you can begin:

1. Acknowledge All Communication: Start by truly listening to and validating their communication. Nod, repeat their gestalts back to them, or respond with simple acknowledgments like “Yeah” or “Okay.” Even if you don’t yet understand what their gestalts mean, this shows them that their communication matters and that you’re listening.
2. Build Trust: For older gestalt language processors, trust is key, especially if they have experienced years of compliance-based therapy or discouragement of their natural language. Be patient. It may take time for them to feel comfortable expressing themselves freely.
3. Shift to a Child-Led Approach: Child-led therapy is not just for young children; it’s equally as important for older gestalt language processors. Focus on building rapport by engaging in their interests, hobbies, and play. Let them take the lead, and create opportunities for spontaneous language to emerge.
4. NLA Framework: Once a child is identified as a gestalt language processor, start supporting them through the Natural Language Acquisition Framework (Blanc, 2012). This approach is for individuals of all ages and stages, so don’t worry about how late you’re starting—just begin.
5. Be Patient: Progress may take time. Older gestalt language processors may need extra time to process, unlearn old patterns, and build new connections. Trust the process.

If a child or individual is identified later in life as a gestalt language processor, that’s okay! When we know better, we can do better. Development is at the pace of the individual and it is not a race. We cannot rush a child’s development. We need to meet them where they are currently at in the stages, not where we want them to be. By listening, validating, and embracing child-led, neurodiversity-affirming practices, we can help older gestalt language processors thrive. It’s never too late to honor their communication and support their language journey.

Question & Answer with Marge Blanc about Older Gestalt Language Processors

We are starting to identify older gestalt language processors, and we know we are helping to change lives in the process! But where will these students be able to progress in their language development? What do we know? And what do we have yet to learn? This is a hypothetical conversation with Marge Blanc about what we’ve studied, what we haven’t, and what we need to do next.

Question 1: Most of us were taught that all children needed to achieve a full grammar by age 6 or 7, or it was too late. We now know that’s not true, since young gestalt language processors can still achieve a full grammar years after that. But is there a cut-off age for our gestalt language processors to develop grammar?

We don’t know of one, but we have to differentiate between ‘some’ grammar (Stage 4) and a ‘full’ grammar (Stage 6). There is a big difference. We know of some gestalt language processors in their 20s who are still developing grammar at Stages 4 and 5, but they began before the age of 10.

Question 2: So is that when a gestalt language processor needs to start the process for some grammar/or a full grammar to develop?

The data in the NLA book included children beginning the process at age 6, 7, and 8 and achieving Stage 5 grammar, and one beginning at age 9 and achieving Stage 4 grammar before he moved away. There were other individuals who had done some language development in their heads before we ever knew they were a gestalt language processor, which gave them a huge head start towards full grammar.

Question 3: But how about if they’ve never done any gestalt language development at all as a gestalt language processor and now they’re 10 or older?

We don’t know much beyond the clinical research in the Natural Language Acquisition book. There, we documented one individual who began at age almost-10 and achieved Stage 4 by high school. That is my friend ‘Bevin’ who was showcased in the NLA book because of that. His grammar progress largely halted in high school, however, but his grammar successfully made its way into conversation and narration. Since that time, he has achieved some Stage 5 and 6 grammar, particularly bits and pieces that mattered to him. But, of course, even when grammar development halted, other aspects of language development continued.

Question 4:How about students just being introduced to the NLA framework when they are older than 10? Can we hope they can achieve at least a partial grammar at Stage 4?

We hope so, of course, but we don’t yet know. Our next round of qualitative research will help to inform us. But really, we should ask ourselves if that is the right question. Once we develop trust with an older student who is communicating with gestalts, we have Stage 1! Whether we first acknowledge a Stage 1 communicator at age 10 or 12 — or 22 or 32 — we can help change their lives! Not through grammar development necessarily, although we don’t want to rule it out, but the biggest difference in my 10-year-old student was not the grammar he gained at Stage 4, but that he was acknowledged by his family as a communicator — at Stage 1. That was when his life and their lives changed!

Question 5: Can we speed up the process for older individuals, to help get them to Stages 3 and 4?

No, in fact, just the opposite. So many older gestalt language processors are just emerging from their whisper-scripting and rote-language hiding places. If we try to hurry their process, it only harkens back to how they were pushed to be ALPs in the first place. That’s the reason their natural gestalt language went underground.

The takeaway? Grammar is a wonderful tool, but it’s just a tool. It’s not communication. Stage 1 communicates, if we pay attention to it! And Stage 2 communicates even more flexibly. We need to honor Stage 1 and Stage 2 communicators as true communicators — and change their lives — for the better.