empower Archives | Valued Voices

October 15 2024

Empowering Parents Through the IEP Process: A Compassionate Guide

Sholeh Shahinfar All, Gestalt Language Processing, Motor Skills & Sensory Support, Parent Tips & Coaching, Speech & Language Development advocacy, collaborotion, compassion, EDUCATION, empower, guidance, guide, IEP, Individualized Education Programs, journey, navigating, parents, participation, self-care, well-being

As a parent, navigating the world of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for your child in school can evoke a mix of emotions—concern, uncertainty, and even a touch of overwhelm. Rest assured; you are not alone in this journey. Understanding the IEP process and advocating for your child’s unique needs are key steps towards ensuring they receive the support necessary to thrive in their educational environment.

Book Complimentary Consult

Demystifying the IEP Journey

The IEP process is designed to cater to the individualized needs of children who require specialized services to reach their full potential. Here’s a breakdown of the essential steps to guide you through this process with confidence:

1. Initiating the Process:

If you suspect your child may benefit from specialized services (speech therapy, occupational therapy, academic supports, etc.) you can request an evaluation from the school to determine eligibility for an IEP. Initiating the evaluation process by communicating with the school is the first crucial step.

2. Active Participation:

Engaging in IEP team meetings allows you to contribute your valuable insights into your child’s strengths, challenges, and aspirations. Your role as a parent is pivotal in shaping the IEP to suit your child’s specific requirements. Regularly review your child’s progress towards IEP goals and engage in discussions with the school team to address any concerns.

3. Understanding the IEP Document:

The IEP outlines specific goals, accommodations, modifications, and services that will support your child’s academic and developmental progress. Take the time to comprehend the components of the IEP, including the goals, accommodations, and services outlined to support your child’s growth and development. Familiarize yourself with your child’s and parental rights, including the services and supports they are entitled to under the IEP.

4. Advocacy and Collaboration:

Building a collaborative and strong relationship with your child’s educators and specialists fosters open communication channels vital for effective advocacy and monitoring progress. Your insights into your child’s strengths, areas that need support, and goals are invaluable in creating a comprehensive IEP.

5. Educational Empowerment:

Equipping yourself with knowledge about special education laws, rights, and resources empowers you to advocate confidently for your child’s educational needs. Explore local support groups, workshops and online resources that offer guidance and knowledge-sharing on the IEP process. Consider consulting with educational advocates or special education professionals for further assistance and advocacy. At Valued Voices, we have a dedicated team to support you though the entire IEP process.

Book Complimentary Consult

Compassion and Support Along the Way

Navigating the IEP process can be emotionally taxing, but remember, you are resilient, resourceful, and deeply committed to your child’s well-being. Here are some ways to nurture yourself through this journey:

Self-Care Rituals: Prioritize self-care practices that replenish your energy and emotional reserves, ensuring you can advocate effectively for your child. Take care of yourself physically and emotionally throughout the IEP process, seeking support when needed to effectively advocate for your child.
Community Connection: Seek support from fellow parents, local groups, or online communities who share similar experiences and can offer empathy, guidance, and solidarity.

Professional Guidance: Don’t hesitate to consult with educational advocates or professionals who can provide expert advice and guidance tailored to your child’s needs. Stay informed about special education laws, your child’s rights, and best practices in supporting children with diverse learning needs. If you are unsure where to begin, reach out to us to support you!

Your Journey, Your Impact

By embracing the IEP process with compassion, knowledge, and unwavering dedication, you are championing your child’s educational journey with grace and resilience. Remember, every small step you take in advocating for your child’s needs creates a ripple effect of positive change within their educational environment.

Embrace this journey with courage, seek support when needed, and trust in your ability to advocate fiercely for your child’s brighter and empowered future. You are a beacon of strength and love in your child’s life, guiding them towards success one IEP goal at a time. Your child’s potential knows no bounds, and with your advocacy and love, they will soar to remarkable heights.

Your dedication to your child’s growth is a testament to the boundless love of parenthood. Your child is blessed to have you as their unwavering advocate and champion. If you have any questions, concerns, or simply need a listening ear along your IEP journey, know that you are supported, heard, and valued.

Book Complimentary Consult

SHOLEH SHAHINFAR

M.A. CCC-SLP, RYT

Sholeh Shahinfar is the Founder of Valued Voices, a licensed Speech Language Pathologist, Child Communication Specialist and Certified Oral Motor Therapist. She is passionate about uplifting children’s voices in the world and inspiring self-expression. In her free time, Sholeh embraces a vegan lifestyle, loves going to the ocean, exploring nature with her pup Kobe, practicing yoga, traveling, and spending time with her loved ones.

KAELYN GREEN

Kaelyn Green is a licensed occupational therapist at Valued Voices. She is certified by the University of Southern California in Sensory Integration and is an advocate for addressing underlying sensory functioning in order to improve occupational performance. She is passionate about meeting children and families where they are at and seeks to tailor interventions to the unique needs of her clients. When she is not working, you will find Kaelyn taking care of her two goldendoodles, working in her garden, or taking trips to the Central Coast.

What are the stages of gestalt language development?

If you are curious to learn more about the six stages of gestalt language development, please click the button below.

Stages of Gestalt Language Development

July 19 2023

What is Gestalt Language Processing?

Sholeh Shahinfar All, Gestalt Language Processing, Parent Tips & Coaching, Speech & Language Development Autism, Autistic people, communication, diagnosed, disorder, echolalia, empower, gestalt, Gestalt Language Processor, GLP, knowledge, language processors, learning, NLA-certified therapists, speech therapy, therapy

“I’ve Been Told my Child is a Gestalt Language Processor! What do I do now?”

In my therapy office, Gestalt Language Processing (GLP) is a hot topic among parents who have a child diagnosed with Autism. Finding information about GLP is few and far between, and for most parents, this is an entirely new concept. It is estimated that around 85% of Autistic people are gestalt language processors, and if this is the case, then why are we not affirming this style of communication? I see and recognize the frustration in the parents when they say “Why have other providers not done this with my child before?” The truth is, this is not a common topic that is taught in graduate school. That’s why as Speech Language Pathologists (SLP), we must seek out further training and research to gain knowledge on different styles of learning, including gestalt language processing.

We usually think of language acquisition as learning a word, combining that word with another to make a word combination, combining words to make a sentence, and then we have full conversations. This is called Analytical Language Processing, where language is learned in small independent units. We then build on those single units to build phrases and sentences. This approach is one of the most widely used approaches in speech and language therapy when working on language acquisition. This is not what gestalt language processing is, quite literally it is the opposite!

Book Complimentary Consult

What is Gestalt Language Processing?

Gestalt Language Processing (GLP) is a valid form of communication where language is acquired through meaningful chunks or delayed echolalia. Delayed echolalia happens when someone uses messages heard in the past and repeats those messages. These messages may have been learned minutes, days, weeks, and months ago. In our field, there has been a common misconception that these chunks or scripts do not hold meaning, but they do!

These meaningful chunks can range from a single word to a whole script from a TV that your child loves. Rather than the word “fish” having its literal meaning, a GLP child might use the word “fish” to hold the meaning of ocean, pool, or even water. Rather than labeling “ocean” you might notice that they are using “fish” instead, to them, fish holds the same meaning as ocean. Likewise, your child comes up to you and says “We’re going to the beach” which holds the meaning of “I want to go swimming.” The phrase “we’re going to the beach” could have been acquired from a TV show they love. When a child uses a script with intention, we should honor, affirm, and accept it!

How do I know my child is a Gestalt Language Processor?

There are a few things that can help an SLP determine if a child is a gestalt language processor. One of the most common indicators is the use of echolalia. We talked a little about delayed echolalia above when a phrase is stored and used later. There is another form of echolalia that we listen for, this is called immediate echolalia, this is where the child repeats exactly what someone says immediately following it being heard. These two can be one of the biggest indicators of a Gestalt language processor. Although it is a huge indicator, children who are not gestalt language processors can also use echolalia, but with a reduced frequency.

Another common thing parents report is “My child has been in speech therapy for a while. They have a lot of single words but don’t seem to put them together. They mostly require a word-for-word model to produce phrases.” When a GLP is approached with an analytical language processing style, they might get stuck using single words. Like the example above, the word “fish” can hold multiple meanings, the same as the word “want” so adding these two words together might be difficult given they hold two separate and complex meanings. This leads to another indicator, that traditional speech therapy approaches seem to not be working.

Scripts can take the form of a single word, short phrase, sentence, or even long story length- scripts. These stories can be intelligible, you understand every word being said and can tell where the script came from. It can also sound like strings of unintelligible jargon, or babbling, that is rich in intonation. Within this jargon, if you listen closely, sometime words will be made clear or you might begin to make out words within the script! This can sound like “unintelligible….balloons….unintelligible.” The script being used might be longer, however, your child might make one word clear for you to understand that they are communicating.

These are all forms of valid communication, let’s honor them! Even though the language being used might sound restricted or the content doesn’t fit the context, your child is still communicating with you and that should always be acknowledged. Your kiddo’s scripts might hold a different meaning than they were originally intended and that’s okay, we must validate and honor any communicative intent!

How does this change therapy?

When a child is found to be a gestalt language processor, the clinicians’ therapy approach should change! Switching from an analytical approach to a gestalt language approach is affirming to children who use scripts to communicate. The therapist will change to a Naturalistic Language Acquisition (NLA) approach to therapy. The NLA framework breaks down gestalt language processing into four main stages. These phases guide the GLP to self-generated grammar by breaking down gestalts into single words, then building it back up again. The goal of this approach is for the child to begin understanding that words hold individual meanings.

Stage 1 – Echolalia

Stuck single words, use of rich intonation with jargon, or use of whole gestalts to communicate meaning. These gestalts can be long, you might hear them as lines from movies, TV shows, or conversations they have heard.

“We’re going to the beach”

“It’s time to go”

“Let’s get it”

“That’s right goof”

Stage 2 – Mitigation

This is when your child begins to mix and match gestalt from the first stage, parts are taken from the original gestalt and mixed with others to create a new message. These gestalts can also be shortened.

“We’re going to” + “go”

“It’s time to go” + “to the beach”

“Let’s get” + “goof”

“That’s right”

Stage 3 – Single word or two-word combinations

In this stage you will notice single words again, these are different than the stuck single words from stage one. These are freed from other gestalts. They may also begin to use two-word combinations that usually take the form of noun + noun, adjective + noun, noun + adjective, etc. In this stage, we are not worried about grammar.

Beach, goof, right, time

“Right goof” “beach time”

Stage 4 – Self-Generated Grammar

The words that have been freed in stage three can begin to be put together to form self-generated phrases or sentences. Within this stage it is okay to not have perfect grammar, that will be targeted within the later stages of the NLA framework.

“We gonna go beach”

“Time let’s go”

“Goofy goed beach”

This framework help guides the clinician through their therapy process, further empowering children to use their voices while affirming their interests. This style of therapy is completely child-led and it looks like play. When you honor all styles and meet your kiddo in their strengths, you notice huge shifts. Kids are more engaged, happy, and free to be themselves. All the more reason to accommodate, honor, and celebrate your child’s communication style!

What’s next?

Gestalt language processing is not considered a disorder, it is just considered a style of processing and learning language. Although it is commonly a learning style of autistic people, your child can be a gestalt language processor without having autism. It’s important to use the strengths of children to empower their voices. When forcing them to learn in a style that is not their strength we tend to stifle their ability to communicate. This is very true when a gestalt language processor does not receive therapy that plays to their strength.

It is incredibly important for all members of your child’s service team (i.e. occupational therapists, physical therapists, teachers, paras, ABA therapists, family members, etc.) to also be on board with shaping their therapy style around this communication approach. When it is not carried over across all therapies and settings, it can be counteractive. Providing therapy through a gestalt language processing approach is maximizing your kiddo’s learning style and empowering them. If one therapist is not on board it may cause more confusion for your kiddo, when it comes to expressing yourself, this is not something we want! Team collaboration is incredibly important when seeking out a therapist to work with your GLP, discuss with your SLP ways to collaborate with your child’s other service providers.

If your child is autistic or you suspect your child is a GLP, seek out a therapist trained in Gestalt Language Processing or find one knowledgeable of it. At Valued Voices we have two NLA-certified therapists and all other clinicians, including our occupational therapists, are trained to work with gestalt language processors!

Book Complimentary Consult

References:

ASHA Practice Portal – Clinical Topics: Echolalia and Its Role in Gestalt Language Development

Blanc, M. 2012. Natural Language Acquisition on the Autism Spectrum: The journey from Echolalia to Self-Generated Language. Madison, WI: Communication Development Center Inc.

Meaningful speech – echolalia education – gestalt language processing. Meaningful Speech Echolalia Education – Gestalt Language Processing. (n.d.). https://www.meaningfulspeech.com/home

SHOLEH SHAHINFAR

M.A. CCC-SLP, RYT

BAYLEE BROWN

M.A. CCC-SLP

Baylee has always found a passion for helping others. As a Speech Language Pathologist, she uses this passion to empower clients to find and develop effective ways to communicate. Baylee has a Master of Arts in Speech Language Pathology from Wichita State University in Kansas. There she gained clinical experience in a variety of areas, ranging from disorders of written expression, autism spectrum disorders, articulation disorders, language disorders, developmental delay, to early intervention and identification. In her spare time, she enjoys going to Zumba, yoga, hanging out with her friends, and trying new restaurants. Baylee is new to California and excited to explore a new place, when you see her give her suggestions on places to eat and things to do in the area!