Gestalts being complex communication with layer after layer of context and meaning
With a multi-modal example
There was a discussion recently about gestalts, and are they always just an emotional phrase that will be used as the building blocks to breaking it down and using the words. Or rather, some autistic folks who are big advocates were saying no, they aren't, please share your examples. A couple of people shared that a gestalt isn't a bunch of words put together like blocks - they aren't single-layered in that way. They're complex with layer after layer of context and meaning and feeling and each use encompasses all of that.
(** please follow one of the amazing people who started the convo - Queering AAC **)
99.99% of what A- says seems to fall into this category. Mostly he has a word or phrase that shows “I’m so ridiculously happy!!!” that each last a few months and often morphs (not mitigates) over that time. It’s been "blue". It’s been "purple". It's been "let it shine".
Right now it’s “is turning!” which started as "Long blue bus is turning!" became "it's turning!", this morning was "turn turn turn!" and lately is also "and it's turning doo doo doo doo doo". The happy phrase always starts with it's intended meaning - long blue bus is turning is from a video where Daniel says that phrase in reference to a bus, and he KNOWS the word "turning" and "it's turning" and has used it in typical contexts in the past, but that isn't the point. At some point this phrase becomes an expression of bliss or joy.
Eventually he moves on to a new phrase. So far he’s never gone back to any of his old ones.
Someone else seeing this quickly, or just trying to record an hour's worth of data, would think he’s a stage 1 GLP and these are just classic gestalts. But he’s not… language processing wise he’s stage 4+. This just doesn't seem to be his primary way of using expressive language. It seems to me, words and speech are first and foremost about pleasure. (I also believe this because of all the non-speaking autistic adults who've said this!).
He also has a bunch of single words he uses “to communicate” in a more Typical way, and some gestalts he uses that way too. But that’s a very, very small part of his speech. It’s like he’s realized there’s some benefit in finding ways to say a specific thing to us, but that’s a secondary use of language. It reminds me of Mel Baggs having to sometimes come to where all the typical people are, so ze could use language our way.
A multi-modal communication example that brings all this together:
The other night, was the night before we left my mom's to go back home to NY. He was sitting there using his tablet or something, and suddenly he said "Talker! Talker!" with his mouth. Note - he's basically stopped using his talker most of the time, and I haven't heard him say the word Talker for like a year, and I can't even remember any specific examples.
He goes over and grabs his talker, and opens Pictello, which he's also rarely using but has used it as a communication tool in the past.
He scrolls through his 100+ Pictellos and finds one from a while ago that is called "Patiamma {aka Grandma} and Tha Tha miss Aulu". I had my parents make this Pictello by recording sentences that we put on each page. One page is my mom saying "Patiamma loves to play with Aulu" in a sing-songy voice. He watched the whole Pictello and then played that specific page over and over about 15 times.
Then he looked up at my mom, who was cooking in the kitchen nearby, and shouted "IS TURNING!" at her. I could translate that into my language, and what he was thinking, but that isn't the point. You can just feel what all of that meant.
