From Minimally-Speaking to Confident Communicator in 2.5 years- One Child’s Story
A little over 2.5 years ago, I was getting ready to go back to work after having my first baby. I had just started my private practice and as it was starting to grow, I decided to pick up a few early intervention clients to fill my days. Based on my location, I chose a few kids and hoped for the best. I called each family to schedule our appointments, and that’s when I first spoke with a woman named Natalie. I explained that I would be her daughter L’s new speech therapist and I’d begin the following week. Natalie was happy to hear that, but she had a few questions for me before I could start.
We now look back and laugh at her process of questioning me, but at the time, I was actually so happy she did. Natalie told me all about her daughter, and explained that she was looking for a speech therapist who would follow a child-led, play-based approach.
She wanted to make sure that I would be on the same page and that I would fit in with the neuro-affirming team she had cultivated for her daughter, who had recently been diagnosed as autistic. I’m not exactly sure what I said on that phone call, but I remember how I felt— overjoyed. I was so thrilled to hear these words coming from Natalie- it felt like a match made in heaven. A perfect family for me to support!
I had been a speech therapist for several years at that time, and was beyond passionate about supporting autistic students with a child-led, neuro-affirming approach. In fact, I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to convince Natalie that child-led play was an effective way to support communication development.
So the following week, I arrived at their home, and knocked on the door. Natalie welcomed me into their home, and introduced me to L, who was climbing on the back of their couch and jumping off. Natalie and I began talking, while L ran around and jumped and spun and crashed into every piece of furniture in sight.
The first few times we met, L was very reserved. Natalie and I would often play together while L would sit in a different area, glancing over here and there when she heard something interesting. Natalie and I agreed that letting L come to us was the best way to support her, because we wanted her to feel comfortable.
At the time, L was mostly non-speaking. She could say a few basic words, but her speech was highly unintelligible. She was not able to meet her basic needs with her speech, so we made plans to introduce AAC. I brought over a core vocabulary board to start, and L quickly memorized a lot of the icons and their locations.
As she become more comfortable with me and we connected through play, L began to try to communicate more. Her personality started to show in a big way, and we loved to see it. She had just turned 3 at the time.
We started to notice that L had very specific plans for our sessions, and would become upset if those plans weren’t followed. The only problem was that we couldn’t always understand the plans.
I will never forget the period of time where I would come to the house, knock on the door, and wait with my fingers crossed that I “knocked right.” L was very particular about the way a person knocked and even more particular about who could say “come in” and open the door. If this routine was not followed, L would become very upset and sometimes this dysregulation would last for our whole hour long session.
Natalie was always very tuned-in to L’s needs, and together we would offer whatever sensory supports she needed to help her regulate.
Sometimes, our sessions looked like us quietly laying on the floor, trying to come up with ideas to support her regulation and communication.
As the weeks passed, I noticed that L’s play was very active in nature. She loved to run and crash and jump, and anything movement based would excite her. If I introduced a new idea in play and she enjoyed it- L would add that to her understanding of our speech therapy routine and then it would become something we’d have to do every single session. For example, one day, we turned the lights off and on for a few minutes and L loved this. For months after this day, we played that lights on and off game. It was our thing- and L made sure we stuck with it.
As L started to talk, we realized that she was using mostly with echolalia, meaning she would repeat what she heard others say. The more she tried to say, the more we would recognize our own language coming from L as well as language from her favorite shows and songs.
Having worked with autistic clients for years, I had recognized this use of echolalia as a common way that autistic individuals communicate. I started to look for fresh ideas to help L’s communication continue to develop, which led me to hearing the term “gestalt language processing” for the first time. While I had years of experience with echolalia, this was the first time I had a new term for it, and a new approach to try with L by way of the Natural Language Acquisition Framework by Marge Blanc.
Over the past 2.5 years, we followed a completely child-led, play-based approach. Today, L can say pretty much anything she wants to say. She communicates conversationally and is one of the brightest and most creative kids I know. I believe that if it weren’t for what we’ve learned about gestalt language development, L’s progress may have been much slower, or plateaued early on, because traditional approaches to speech therapy are not effective for gestalt language processors.
L is now able to communicate in self-generated sentences, which has been so exciting to hear. She is able to express her ideas, thoughts, and opinions. She interacts with a wide variety of people and her personality is really able to shine now that she has the language to share with the world. This approach works, and if you are wondering whether it will work for your child or student- it will. I say that confidently. Because the approach is all about connection and letting your amazing child lead the way, two tried-and-true ways to support communication.
I teach the exact process for how we got here in my course, The Great Language Partner Program, which is designed for parents, caregivers, and professionals of autistic children and gestalt language processors. It will transform the way you connect with your child or students and help them become autonomous communicators in a child-led, play-based approach based on research and my 10 years of experience working with neurodivergent children! Learn more here.
