Go Talking Ways

09/12/2025

“They only ever play with the same thing.”
Here’s why that’s not a problem … it’s the clue.

When a child returns to the same toy, the same scene, the same sequence again and again…
this is often ‘monotropism’.

🧠 Monotropism = the deep intense interest to a topic or activity at a time.
It’s a cognitive style and a regulation strategy.
It’s how the brain creates:
▪️ safety
▪️ predictability
▪️ memory
▪️ emotional processing
▪️ nervous system settling
▪️ language storage

This is also why we see it so often in Gestalt language processors… repetition is how the brain organises experience before it can organise language.

And here’s the key shift ⬇️
Interrupting this play breaks regulation.
Following it builds communication.

When you stop redirecting and start joining:
✨ scripts evolve
✨ attention softens
✨ emotional safety deepens
✨ spontaneous communication grows

This isn’t “stuck”.
This is a brain doing exactly what it needs to do to feel safe enough to learn.

If your child repeats play again and again…
don’t stop it.
That’s where the real wiring happens.

💾 Save this if repetitive play has ever worried you.
💬 Comment “ONE” if you want me to unpack this more.
👀 Follow for neuroaffirming speech & language therapy insights.

⸻

Steph | Go Talking Ways

07/12/2025

04/12/2025

I had a parent ask me this recently and honestly, it’s one of the BEST Gestalt Language Processing questions asked!!

Here’s the truth ⬇️

🟡 YES, a child can absolutely be a GLP even with no language delay.

Not every GLP has a long, obvious echolalic stage.
Not every GLP scripts whole phrases.
Not every GLP gets “stuck” in Stage 1.

Some children move through the GLP stages very quickly, so the echolalia is short, subtle, or simply missed.

🟡 What might it look like instead?

You might see tiny clues like:
✨ A sing-songy tone or melodic prosody
✨ Bursting into familiar theme tunes or lines from books
✨ Quoting phrases they love (but less obviously)
✨ Re-enacting whole routines or scenes in play instead of building things step-by-step
✨ Early full sentences that sound “too polished” for their age
✨ Very emotionally-charged language or rhythm-based speech

These are all GLP communication patterns… just without the classic long echolalic phase.

🟡 So why does it matter?

Because GLPs thrive with:
– Natural Language Models
– Declarative language
– Emotion-rich modelling
– Play-based, child-led interaction
– Reduced questioning
– Sensory-supportive environments

And when parents don’t realise their child is a GLP, they often use analytic language strategies… which don’t always land.

🟡 The big takeaway:

Not all Gestalt Language Processors look the same.
Some script loudly.
Some script quietly.
Some move through the stages so fast that nobody notices.
And some only stand out later, when language becomes more complex or emotionally charged.

If you’re listening to your child and thinking…
“Hmm… this feels GLP but I’m not seeing echolalia…”
You’re not imagining it.
You’re noticing the deeper pattern.
And that’s exactly where support begins. 💛

If you want help working out whether your child is a GLP, especially if they’re verbal, chatty, or have no language delay, drop me a message or book a Parent Power Hour. I’ll help you understand your child’s natural, organic communication journey.

Steph | Go Talking Ways

02/12/2025

There are times when this question pops up.

I used to really feel conflicted by it… but now I see it as a great opportunity to educate. As speech and language therapists, I know we’ve all be asked this question.

So if a parent observes a therapy session and asks:
“So… is this it? Is this just play?”

Here’s the truth every parent of a neurodivergent, minimally-speaking or Gestalt Language Processing child deserves to know:

🌟 Play isn’t the break from therapy.
Play is the therapy.

And while it may look unstructured, here’s what’s actually happening every second:

✨ I’m reading your child’s sensory profile
✨ Tracking their regulation + nervous system state
✨ Listening for gestalts, intonation patterns + emerging language
✨ Noticing motor planning + speech-motor coordination
✨ Watching how they invite me in or set boundaries
✨ Observing their whole-body communication
✨ Taking a live language sample
✨ Adjusting the environment for safety + co-regulation

At the same time, I’m also:
✔️ Modelling natural language models (GLP-friendly)
✔️ Using declarative language
✔️ Responding to communicative intent, not compliance
✔️ Using AAC, visuals + gesture as standard
✔️ Supporting motor planning for speech
✔️ Creating the conditions for connection → regulation → language

This isn’t random.
This isn’t passive.
This isn’t “letting them do whatever they want”.

This is neurodiversity-affirming speech and language therapy that actually works for children who struggle with:

• high demands
• sensory overwhelm
• masking
• fight/flight responses
• unreliable speech
• apraxia / motor planning challenges
• Gestalt Language Processing

If their nervous system doesn’t feel safe, language cannot land.
So yes, therapy may look quiet, playful, flexible and child-led…

But that’s because your child’s natural style, not my plan, decides the session.

Connection first. Sensory safety first. Regulation first.
THEN language. Always.

If you want to understand what child-led, sensory-informed, GLP-aligned therapy could look like for your child, you can book a free 20-minute call, link in bio or message me.

Steph | Go Talking Ways

28/11/2025

If you look for it… communication actually is all around”.❤️

So often, we’re taught to zoom in on the behaviour, the “challenge”, the “problem”. But when you look closer, when you really lean in, you realise the truth:

That child is already communicating.
Through their whole body.
Through movement.
Through sensory seeking.
Through sounds, scripts, visuals, silence, pacing, play, avoiding, approaching, glancing, retreating.

Connection isn’t something we teach.
It’s something we notice.

And when we finally look through a sensory lens and a communication-first lens, everything changes.
The “behaviours” become messages.
The overwhelm becomes nervous-system communication. The echolalia becomes Gestalt language processing, not “copying”, but meaning.
The silence becomes safety-seeking, not defiance. That’s exactly how connection-based speech and language therapy works.

To emphasise this, let me tell you a story from something that happened to me this week. Coming out of the supermarket and getting in my car, I noticed a lady in the car next to me, hunched over her steering wheel. I tapped on this stranger’s car window because she was crying. When I asked her “are you ok”, she said “I’m fine, I’ve just had some bad news. Thank you so much for checking and giving me your time”.
But she wasn’t fine (obvs).
She just needed someone to see her.

Our children need exactly the same thing.
Someone to lean in.
Someone to notice the human underneath the behaviour.
Someone who understands the sensory stories behind their actions.
Someone who values connection more than compliance.

This is the heart of my work.
Child-led.
Connection-first.
Sensory-informed.
Neurodiversity-affirming.
Rooted in trust, curiosity, and compassion, not correction.

Because speech isn’t the only form of communication.
And love, connection, safety, regulation…
They’re all around us, if we look for them.

✨ If you want support with Gestalt language processing, non-speaking communication, sensory-informed strategies or connection-led speech and language therapy in Birmingham or online, you can always drop me a message.
You’re never doing this alone.
I’m here.

Steph | Go Talking Ways