Gestalt Language Processing: What It Is and How Music Therapy Can Help
Here at Resonate Music Therapy, we work extensively with autistic and neurodivergent individuals, some of which are also gestalt language processors (GLP). So what exactly does that mean? Later in this post we will talk about how music therapists are uniquely poised to work with people who interact with language in this way, but first let’s discuss what it means for someone to be a GLP.
Before we jump in: It’s important to note that we’re going to use the terms gestalt, scripting, and delayed echolalia throughout this post. These terms are not interchangeable, but we’re not providing hard and fast operational definitions, as the autistic community individually views each of these terms differently. When we informally asked in an autistic adults forum, respondents all had very different experiences with these terms. Many said scripting was involuntary, happened in more high-stress environments, and was purposefully planned to decrease cognitive overload (particularly in social situations). Some viewed echolalia as how they stimmed and connected/interacted with the environment and that it was meaningful based on the activity they were completing. Others said echolalia for them was more of a reflex.
All this to say: it’s important to understand that every autistic person is different. For the purposes of this article, assume that delayed echolalia refers to repeating words, sounds or phrases after the fact. Gestalts are entire phrases repeated after the fact and hold meaning to that individual (even if the meaning is emotional or contextual and doesn’t exactly match the words being used).
Okay, understood! Now- what does it mean for someone to be a gestalt language processor? What is GLP?
The form of language learning that many people are more familiar with is called analytic language processing. This is a “bottom-up” approach to learning language, where a child engages with/understands language as single units of language (individual words) holding meaning. Then, as they learn more single units, they start to realize that these can be combined and stringed together to function as bigger units with more meaning. For example, a baby might be babbling and then stumble upon a unit that makes everyone around them really excited, like “dada”, “mama” or “ba”. When parents show excitement, joint attention, and model these babbled syllables and referents around them, the baby learns to associate meaning with those units/sounds. The child then learns they can combine “dada” + “ba” to indicate meanings such as “dad’s ball” or “dada get the ball” and so on to communicate what they want to say.
However, analytic language processing is not the only way to learn language!
While gestalt language processors can interact with language as individual units (and in fact they do in later stages), initially gestalt language processors largely develop language not by stringing together these individual units, but rather by processing the entire gestalt or “chunk” of language. You might also see gestalt language processing referred to as natural language acquisition (NLA), a term coined by researchers Ann Peters, Barry Prizant, and Marge Blanc.
Think about how an analytic language processor would hear and understand the word “bath” and think “oh no, I don’t want to take a bath”. If their parent didn’t want them to figure out that it’s bath time, they might say to the other parent, “I think it’s time for a B-A-T-H”, because that child doesn’t understand the single units of letters equal the word “bath.” We know as we go through life and learn more that we can break up that word into additional units (letters) that also hold meaning, just like a phrase or sentence can be broken into single words that hold their own meaning.
Similarly to an analytic language learner understands the word bath but NOT the individual units that make up this unit of letters ( B-A-T-H) before they learn this, a GLP might understand the entire phrase “time for a bath”, but not connect meaning to the individual units (words) like time, for, or bath. A gestalt language processor, however, might hear the phrase “it’s time to take a bath” and associate that entire phrase with the bathtub/bathtime/bedtime routine, but might not yet understand “it’s time” or “take” and their individual word meanings.
GLPers can still engage with words individually, they just predominantly engage and understand language in larger chunks (eg, whole phrases), initially.
Another example might be a child whose parent always says “are you hungry?” when the child comes into the kitchen looking at the box of cereal on the counter. An analytic processor might have learned that “you” means themself and “hungry” means the feeling that they need food. If that child were a GLP, however, they might learn that phrase as a whole chunk of meaning. They might associate that phrase with getting their favorite food, and then later use that phrase “are you hungry?” any time they want to request a snack or to indicate they are hungry/want that specific cereal/etc., instead of saying “I’m hungry!” or “can I have some food?” as an analytic learner might. They will likely repeat the entire phrase, exactly how they initially heard the phrase- the same inflection, intensity, and words.
Gestalts can have many origins and meanings, and they often don’t mean exactly what the words imply. Parents, caregivers, teachers, therapists, etc. have to work as detectives to figure out the true meaning of a child’s gestalt. Gestalt language processors pick up most on gestalts from phrases that are highly emotive and very inflective. For example, if a parent said in a moment of safety awareness “do NOT go out that door!” to stop a child, a GLP might process this as “woah I have to stop.” Then later in the day let’s say their sibling is doing something they don’t like, the GLP might say “do NOT go out that door”, even though it’s not a door-related situation. This GLP is using that phrase (do NOT go out that door) to really communicate “hey STOP!”. They pulled this communication from the inflective, emotional experience that they had prior with the parent. This may appear like delayed echolalia - but specifically, the GLP is repeating what was heard at a later time, with the same inflection and emotion, but not necessarily the exact same context.
Echolalia in general (as well as gestalts and the entirety gestalt language processing) has often been dismissed in the past because (without doing the detective work needed to understand the meaning behind delayed echolalia) it doesn’t always seem meaningful. If that GLP child used that gestalt we already talked about of “do NOT go out that door” to their sibling or later at school or in therapy, those around them might be confused why they are talking about a door, and they might be dismissed as just “scripting”, and these words not holding any meaning at all. While some scripting/delayed echolalia/gestalts do not hold meaning, many do! We must work with the person to discover what holds intention and meaning to them. We must work to figure out 1.- where the gestalt came from, and 2.- what is the GLP’s meaning they are trying to convey with it. By doing so we can then better understand what a GLP is trying to communicate and better connect with them. Gestalts may be something they heard from a parent, something they heard on a favorite show/movie/game, or any highly-inflective string they heard that holds meaning to them. GLPs also love songs, nursery rhymes, and anything with impactful intonation.
Will a GLP use only gestalts to communicate forever?
Yes and no! While analytic processing is the more common way of learning language, gestalts are a typical way of using language as well. We all use gestalts all the time without knowing it! Think of the most recent trending TikTok sound you can’t stop repeating, or think of that favorite movie line you quote - these are all gestalts! While using gestalts is a common thing, children who start out as GLP don’t only use those phrases to express themselves forever. Just like analytic language learning, GLPs go through stages of language learning and development, just in different ways. Keep in mind that these stages aren’t linear and it’s possible/likely for someone to be in different stages at once. This is just a helpful paradigm. Why? Based on observation, therapists/caregivers/loved ones can provide distinct supports.
Stage 1: Delayed Echolalia - learners are scripting whole gestalts (e.g., do NOT go through that door).
Stage 2: Mix & Match - learn to segment or “trim” their gestalts into smaller chunks (e.g., do NOT!).
Stage 3: Single Words and 2-Word Combos - learners break down scripts into the single units and identify meaning and begin self-generating combinations (e.g., “door” + “open” to indicate the door is open).
Stages 4-6: Original Phrases and Grammar - learners formulate non-scripted phrases and learn grammar rules.
So-why music therapy?
You may have already put the pieces together on this one- if GLPers process language initially in inflective chunks, what’s more inflective and chunked than music! We can work on picking up language using client-preferred music, whether we’re facilitating active singing, self-advocacy and communication through song/instrument selection, or mixing and matching gestalts through song.
A music therapist brings distinct knowledge (a 4-6 year degree in music therapy, 1,200 clinical training hours in the form of an internship post their degree work, and successful completion of the board exam for music therapists) in how to help clients work towards physical, cognitive, social/emotional, and communication goals using music. Music becomes the vehicle for working towards those non-musical goals. Music therapy with GLPers does not replace speech therapy, in the same way that someone using music within another modality may not bring the same level of expertise we have in using music as the vehicle to work towards client goals. If an individual enjoys music and has goals they want to achieve within therapy, working with a board-certified music therapist is always something to consider.
Here at Resonate we are lucky to be able to collaborate between music therapy and speech therapy. Our music therapists are skilled at promoting a highly-inflective environment for our GLP clients to build on their gestalt libraries, and our speech therapist is skilled at then helping them transition through the stages of GLP/NLA. By working with a team trained in the uniqueness of gestalt language processors, these language learners are set up to successfully move through the stages of language with the most success.
If you’re looking for speech therapy, music therapy, or both, we’d love to work with you! We’re based here in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and also offer virtual services.
Okay, but on a final note: I’ve heard that gestalt language processing is just a social media fad and isn’t a real thing. What do you think?
Marg Blanc addresses this well on her site, we highly recommend checking it out! https://communicationdevelopmentcenter.com/qa/
There was a recent critical analysis published that certainly highlighted the need for more research as well as the challenges of researching when each individual’s lexicon of gestalts is so hyper-specialized to that person. But just because something is challenging to research, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. What's particularly exciting is how our understanding of GLP is evolving. It’s not static- as we gather more and more qualitative and even quantitative information, it’s changing. This shows a dynamic, responsive approach to therapy. As therapists, we must start with listening to autistic voices and autistic experiences as the cornerstone of evidence-based practice.
Additional Resources
The Stages of Gestalt Language Development - Blog post by Meaningful Speech - https://www.meaningfulspeech.com/blog/Stages-of-GLP
Communication Development Center - Marge Blanc’s website and GLP database - https://communicationdevelopmentcenter.com/