Gestalt Language Processing (GLP)

What is Echolalia?

Echolalia is the repetition of utterances and language.

There are two types of Echolalia:

• Immediate Echolalia is when a phrase or utterance is repeated immediately.

• Delayed Echolalia is when utterances are repeated after a significant time delay.

When children are growing and learning language, they can learn language in two ways:

• Analytic Language Development: Developing language by learning words as individual parts i.e., start with one word

• Gestalt Language Development: Learning language in chunks rather than single words. This can look like learning a sentence or phrase before learning individual words.

Both analytic and gestalt language development is normal, and it is important to always acknowledge any form of language produced.

What to do if your child is using echolalia:

• Acknowledge their echolalia - this is their way of communicating with you and all echolalia is meaningful

• Model sentences and language to your child in a way that is meaningful to them. This can include labelling and commenting on what they see or are doing

• Avoid using confusing pronouns e.g., ‘you’ and ‘me’. Use first person language instead e.g., “I can see a car” or “let’s play with the blocks”.

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