What is Gestalt Cognitive Processing?

If your child is a Gestalt Language Processor, it is likely they they will also be Gestalt Cognitive Processors. 

This means that they will process an event as a whole. Rather than considering the various steps involved in making up an event, they will view it as one big picture. 

With this in mind, a Gestalt Cognitive Processor may become frustrated or distressed with any changes to their routines as it can interfere with their thinking style.

Example of Gestalt Cognitive Processing

In practice, Gestalt Cognitive Processing can present itself as a child associating swimming lessons, for example, with a full series of events based on their first experience.

For Example:

• Mum drives me to the swimming pool
• I change in the first changing room
• We go swimming with Paula
• When we finish, we drive to McDonald’s on the way home
• I get chicken nuggets

This is the order every swimming lesson should follow for the Gestalt Cognitive Processor to view it as a swimming lesson. 

Any deviation from this routine, such as someone new driving them to the swimming pool or using a different changing room, can alter the whole experience. 

As a result, the child may become distressed or dysregulated.

How to Support a Gestalt Cognitive Processor

Rather than following the steps of using the same changing room and stopping at McDonald’s afterwards, Grandad can change the order of the steps or create a new routine. 

This allows the child to process a new event of swimming lessons with Grandad. 

Changing the order of a routine when it occurs in a new place or with different people creates a new gestalt for the child to process. 

It’s important to remember to meet the child at the stage they are at and not force any new steps or changes if they are becoming distressed.

References:

Play & Gestalt Language Processors (meaningfulspeech.com)

Gestalt Language Processing Terms – Little Puddins