| Description |
Language development begins in early childhood for all children. Supporting ASD children in the earliest stages of language development should begin there as well — and in this way, help these children quickly and naturally. While the principles of Natural Language Acquisition in Autism: Echolalia to Self-Generated Language (NLA) make intuitive sense when we are working with children who already use echolalia, we might mistakenly think we need to wait until a child is using echolalia before starting NLA.
Consider the notion that echolalia can be shaped and modified to create functional language. This
clinical seminar is designed for participants who are applying the principles of Natural Language
Acquisition (NLA) to assessment and treatment of language development in children who are, or
have been, echolalic. The course addresses children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but is
appropriate for treating other children who are gestalt language processors.
The course reviews the linguistics of echolalia in neurotypical and ASD language development and
the research on the communicative use of echolalia in autism. The course describes the natural
stages of language development from Stage 1 (communicative echolalia) to Stages 4-6 (selfgenerated
grammar) in individuals who are gestalt language processors, and focuses on detailed
assessment of spontaneous language, determining the developmental stages of that language, and
deriving appropriate language development goals.
Course objectives include:
Apply the linguistic descriptions of gestalt language processing to 2 styles of language acquisition
describe six stages of language development for gestalt language processors (echolalia to self-generateed language)
Describe similarities and differences between neurotypical and ASD gestalt language processors
Describe the significance of research pertaining to communicative function of echolalia
Apply language assessment protocol to spontaneous utterances of young child with ASD
Derive general language treatment goals for a young child with ASD at each stage of language development.
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