Have you heard of GLP: Gestalt Language Processing? If not – go ahead and read my book “Autism the Big Book Set of Help Book 5 Schools and Onward” It has a big section about teaching multiply disabled learners, which will help – my “book 2: co-ocurring disabilities” will help with understanding GLP as well. Check out my podcast about teaching reading available from the Autistic Culture Podcast Network, or my blogs and courses on teaching autistic children available from my website: www.mckayandmckay.com
GLP = Gestalt Language Processing
What is gestalt: some people call it echolalia, but echolalia is simple repeated gestalts, not whole processing or thinking – like GLP is. You can google both things, and there’s a good website called www.meaningfulspeech.com that can help as well.
But basically, speech language pathologists and autistic researchers of autism believe that more than 80% of autistic people are gestalt processors. It could be 100% we simply don’t know, as not enough research has been undertaken on the topic. And we don’t know how many other neurodivergent people are also GLP’s (it could be many, we simply don’t know), but this means that many in your classrooms may be gestalt processors. And may explain why so many children are being failed and are delayed or slow readers or writers
The opposite of gestalt processing is thought to be analytic processing. But I want to use “top-down” and “bottom-up” processing to explain this. As it makes sense once you understand the difference. Check out Erica Sanborn: “Autistic PhD” for more info on bottom-up thinking.
Gestalt is whole-to-part thinking (bottom-up thinking) and analytic is part-to-whole thinking (top down thinking). I know, I know – in my mind I think it should be top down is whole to part as well – but it isn’t unfortunately... just get used to it, I didn’t decide which was which… I’m only here to explain it as best I can.
So, a GLP’s (the majority of autistic people) learn reading by learning whole language first and then breaking it down into smaller parts (bottom up thinking). They learn full sentences which are called gestalts – and then break those sentences into smaller/ individual words – and then into letters and then into sounds. Analytic processing (top-down thinking) do the opposite – they learn sounds, then letters, then words, then sentences, then paragraphs.
Now – you may have an immediate “AHA!!” moment with that one paragraph and realise why phonics is bad for GLP’s, and I hope you did… but if you didn’t – let me spell it out for you.
If you teach phonics to a child who is a GLP – you’ve jumped the gun – they won’t be ready for phonics until the last stage of GLP learning, until they’ve learnt full language and speak in very big words and sentences. And then can identify each word in the sentence and then each letter. Once they can read fully!!! – that’s when you start to teach phonics – so that they can learn to spell – NOT so they can learn to read. Phonics is required for spelling when the person is a gestalt processor – not for reading! We learn to read without phonics… if you introduce phonics too early to a GLP – you inhibit their learning to read.
NT's predominantly learn via top-down/ analytic methods – they learn the sounds as babies, eg: they learn to babble – mumma, dadda aren’t words – they are sounds. The child is producing sounds, not words – that’s why children without fathers still say dadda or what sounds like dadda before other sounds – because they are simply learning mouth formation and the easiest mouth sounds they can… first. GLP’s learn internally and show speech later – because they are learning full language in their mind before showing sounds or speech development.
This is why traditional speech pathology also doesn’t work for autistics. Because speech pathologists are taught to teach using phonics and mouth formation first. But autistics are usually GLP’s and need to learn whole language before phonics. If you teach phonics before whole language you actually confuse and delay their speech and development further.
I and my children are proof of this. I tried speech therapy; and they made no progress at all. The school taught phonics; and they made no progress at all. I took them out of both; and taught them gestalts – and they exploded with speech and reading. I had the same progression, I was not put in speech therapy, but I was put in day care/ kinder – with no progression until I’d learnt whole language around the age of 7… my kids learnt a lot earlier than me (even though one was more speech delayed than me) due to gestalt interventions, every time I tried to teach phonics – it sent them backwards.
If you are teaching using phonics you aren’t just slowing down your autistics learning – you are actively inhibiting them because they learn the other way around.
When we hear and are taught phonics before we are ready it’s like learning to run before learning to walk. It confuses the shit out of us it is painful, and it’s harder to learn.
In the 80’s and earlier, children were taught reading via whole language instruction. That’s how I was taught – and it worked wonderfully. They introduced phonics much later and that worked brilliantly for me, as I became a wonderful speller because of it, because it worked with my brain, not against it like current methodology does.
I’m not saying don’t teach phonics. I’m saying: teach whole language and phonics simultaneously, so that top-down AND bottom-up thinkers can learn and not be detrimented… and then continue with both into middle school years, because either neurotypes with need either methodology at different times of their development.
NT’s will need phonics earlier and whole language later, but the majority of autistics (and some others) will need the opposite; whole language earlier and phonics much much later.