Approach
Guiding you with an empathetic therapy approach and abundant Resources, whether you're a parent, caregiver, or clinician.
What is Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy?
Abbey believes that all brain differences (neurotypes) are valid ways of being human. Everyone’s brain comes with a different set of strengths as well as areas of need. But being neurodivergent does not mean that a child’s brain is broken or in need of fixing.
NDA therapy focuses on using a child’s strengths and interests to foster learning. We honour each child’s unique sensory needs and play styles to encourage natural communication. Therapy is child-led and focused on connection.
Natural Language Acquisition
Did you know that there are 2 ways that we learn language? The more widely understood approach is that children learn to express themselves by first using single words. As they learn more words, they begin to combine them together into 2-word phrases, then 3-word phrases and eventually long complex sentences. This is called Analytic Language Processing.
Natural Language Acquisition is the approach that emphasizes children learn language in whole chunks or gestalts. They need the whole gestalt to make sense of the world and use the script word for word when they communicate. In early stages, they are not able to break apart the sentences to understand that each individual word has its own meaning. As children’s language develops, they become more flexible with their gestalts and eventually can put words together on their own to share unique thoughts and ideas. Children that learn language in this way are called Gestalt Language Processors (GLPs).
Both approaches to learning language are natural. When GLPs get stuck in the early stages of communicating in mostly scripts/gestalts, therapy may be needed to help them progress through the stages. The goal of therapy is to support children with moving through the NLA stages at their own pace until they can express themselves freely using their own words.
It is believed that at least 85% of autistic children are GLPs.
Signs that your child may be a GLP:
Repeats lines from movies, tv shows, youtube videos, etc.
Repeats things they overhear others saying even when not directed at them.
Speak with exaggerated intonation (rise and fall of voice). It may sound like they are singing.
May repeat things using the exact intonation, but the words may not be recognizable.
May not say words but can sing lyrics of songs.
Make pronoun errors or talk in the 3rd person.
Difficulty answering questions.
Language development using a more traditional language approach (analytic) may have been slow or even plateaued.
Seems stuck on single words and/or learned language (e.g. , I need __, I want __, I see __, etc.)
Expresses themselves in limited ways. They use the same words or phrases over and over again with little variation.