Ep. 50: Using a Sensory Approach to Build Language in Gestalt Processors Ft. SLP Melanie Weber
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What is the purpose of this episode and who are the hosts?
What's up everyone and welcome to Making the Shift.
We're an SLP couple from California with three boys and a passion for finding better ways to support autistic kids.
I'm Chris. You might know me as speech dude. I'm a Neurodivergent High School SLP and the creator of the Dynamic Assessment of Social Emotional Learning, and I specialize in crafting neurodiversity affirming IEPs through my online course.
And I'm Jesse, a sensory integration trained SLP, owner of a top-rated clinic in Los Angeles, and the creator of the Inside Out Sensory Communication Programs for Parents and Therapists. Join us weekly to learn neurodiversity affirming ways to support social, emotional development and regulation in autistic kids.
Are you ready to make the shift? Let's do it.
Hello everyone and welcome back to Making the Shift. I'm very excited because joining us today is Melanie Weber and Melanie is on my Inside Out team, but Teddy is first. Here with me and he's making baby goat noises because he wants you to know he's here. He may pop his head up soon. But back to Melanie. So Melanie is a program advisor for our Inside Out Sensory program and she has been an SLP in Texas and Her kind of guru niche area is all about gastalt language processing and Really, how sensory processing affects gestalt language processors. So today we are super excited to talk to you about how you can help children who are gestalt language processors become more regulated. And you know, what are some signs that they may be dysregulated and need some sensory attention?
Yeah, I'm so excited to be here. Um, I can tell the story of when I realized there was like such a big connection between Yeah,
absolutely.
So Quick like I found Gestalt first, I think as most SLPs. I quickly identified all these kids on my caseload, but then I had one kid who the day I finally realized he was a Gestalt processor. Took us some time, but it was after I like just went completely. out of my comfort zone and started doing a bunch of sensory stuff. And it was amazing. Like his mom even said it was literally like a switch was flipped. So this kid was. non speaking and he was He was like really chill, like he probably the easiest kid ever to like come into your session. But honestly, it was the hardest for me because he would do anything and he just seemed so good with the flow. But then I couldn't really get A feel of like What he liked though, he would do anything I asked him to do, but I I couldn't get like what did he want to do?
And so it was so hard. You know, he wasn't really speaking.
It's like one of those things with those kids. It it sounds funny because it sounds like, oh, dream, they'll do anything I want them to do. In reality, it's like the type of kid where you're like, but what do you want to do? Like, tell me, let's do it. You know, it's like you want them to be motivated and um and be able, you know, just I guess that's the best word is you want them to seem more motivated.
Absolutely. I wanted to know what was he passionate about. And you know, his parents said he was pretty shy. And I pride myself on building good rapport with kids really quickly. And it wasn't that we didn't have a good rapport, but it just It broke my heart 'cause it I've heard the opposite of love is not hate, it's apathy. And it really seemed like he could care less to be in my session or not. And it just like really hurt my heart 'cause I pride myself on kids having fun in my therapy session.
I'm thinking of like, oh, I made this dinner for you. How was it? Uh, that's okay. You'd be like devastated. Like just tell me you love it or you hate it. That's so funny.
Seriously. Like when you get no reaction, it's worse. It really is worse. So He was my, of course, my last client of the day, the 430. So I'm already like tired. And I was pulling out all the stops and just could not figure out what he liked or wanted. And then I started looking into sensory and he didn't.
Who is Melanie Weber and what is her expertise with gestalt language processors?
seemed to me like a sensory kid. At that point I had like this very specific view on what a sensory kid was.
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Chapters
3 chaptersSpeakers
2 identifiedMore from The NeuroAffirm Podcast
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Ep. 124 Building Rapport Isn’t Enough...How Therapists Become Part of the Intervention
Ep. 123 Not Seeing Progress in Speech Therapy? Start Here.
Ep. 122 Screen Time Considerations for Autistic Kids
Ep. 121 The Biggest Sensory Mistakes SLPs Make
Ep. 120 Why Anxiety is So Common in Autism (And What Actually Helps)