It's Not "Just" A Script
5-Minute Read
Welcome to the first of many blog posts about what my days revolve around: language.
So let’s start with the basics.
Language tends to develop in two main ways: part-to-whole and whole-to-part. These are known as Analytic Language Processing and Gestalt Language Processing.
Analytic Language Processors (ALPs) learn language by learning one word, and then adding it to another word, and then another, until they eventually speak in full sentences.
Gestalt Language Processors (GLPs) learn language by doing the opposite. They learn full sentences, or scripts, for a specific emotion or experience. They then take these scripts and break them down into phrases, and then again into single words.
Some autistic people are ALPs, and some are GLPs. Some nonautistic people are ALPs, and some are GLPs. Neither one is exclusive to one neurotype. However, thanks to Marg Blanc MA, CCC-SLP, and Barry Prizant Ph.D, CCC-SLP, research suggests that about 85% of autistic people are GLPs, meaning most autistic individuals develop language through scripting.”
So, why is this relevant?
Understanding how autistic children learn and develop their language is extremely important in establishing neurodiversity affirming practices.
I’ve heard other professionals say many times, “Well, he just scripts,” or “She just has rote language.”
We need to stop using this ableist language. Let me tell you something, no child, regardless of neurotype, just does anything. Just because you don’t understand what the script means doesn’t mean the child isn’t communicating something specific to you.
A gestalt or script can be many different things, and it can mean more than one thing. For example, one of my favorite scripts that one of my clients used was “Oh no! What happened?” This full sentence was used when my client fell down, when someone around her fell down, when she dropped something, when something broke, when she drew on the table, when she pushed our tower of blocks over, etc.
I like to use this script as an example when I teach people what a gestalt is, because in my client’s head, “Oh no! What happened?” emitted the same emotion in all of the situations in which she used it.
She didn’t yet have the language of “Ouch, that hurt!” when she or another person fell down. Or “Oops, my bad!” when she accidentally knocked something over. But at some point, she heard someone say to her, “Oh no! What happened?”, and then in each different scenario, she felt exactly the same way she did when she heard “Oh no! What happened?” for the first time. And it stuck.
A script usually has a lot of prosody (melody or sing-songy quality) to it, and that is why many songs or scenes from TV shows or YouTube videos become scripts. A sing-song quality makes language memorable. Think about why songs get stuck in your head, or why it’s more marketable to create a jingle - people remember it more easily!
Sometimes it may seem like an autistic child uses the same phrase over and over again, and in contexts that don’t make any sense. It may not make sense to you, but it definitely means something to them. During a specific memory or experience they had, they learned that script. And now they’re using it again to communicate that same emotion.
It’s my job (with the help of parents and other professionals) to figure out what a “random” script means. This usually takes a bit of detective work, but when I figure it out, I’m then able to give another phrase (like “Ouch, I fell down!”) that’s more contextual and therefore better understood by unfamiliar people.
If you’ve noticed that your autistic child only sings songs or only repeats full episodes of their favorite TV show, you’re not alone. Maybe they first heard that song when you sang it to them. When they sing it now, they might be telling you how they felt in that moment. Maybe the characters in that one specific episode experience something that happened to your child. Maybe they only know how to describe it to you by scripting the whole episode. Who knows?
My point is, don’t dismiss any script as ‘just scripted/rote language’, if it stuck with your child, it’s meaningful.
More on this later :)
~Chloe