"This is a complete resource full of paradigm-shifting ideas that I was able to put into practice as I read them. This book also gives me a framework to understand echolalic utterances and an intervention to bridge the utterances into functional language." – K.R., SLP

"I like all the tables that serve as a quick reference point and make information easy to find. As a Speech Language Pathologist, Chapter 6 is very helpful to me in terms of assessment. The Index section is also very well organized for finding information quickly."  – M.S., SLP

"I like how informative this book is for clinicians and parents."  – T.B., SLP

"Marge Blanc has put together an amazing resource for those supporting GLPs. This book was easy to read and full of information. This is a resource for therapists, and it recommends child-led play, sensory regulation strategies, and acknowledgment of both immediate and delayed echolalia. GLPs seem to love and respond positively to all of these."  – T.S., SLP

"I enjoyed the variety of case studies, the explanations of the research and theory behind gestalt language processing, and the guidance for SLPs. My GLP students respond so well to the therapeutic techniques. It's been really rewarding to see their faces light up when I tell them it's time for speech, and even more rewarding to hear them talk and use gestalts meaningfully." – V.L., SLP

"This book has a thorough explanation of how individuals with Autism develop language. My students like my ability to help them understand how to generate natural language through their gestalt." – A.B., SLP

"The book has a wealth of information regarding how students on the spectrum acquire language. Specific interest to me was the chapter on how to incorporate and build on scripting during language therapy sessions. My students like how their scripts can be used and built on to allow for communication to occur." – A.M., SLP

"I am using the ideas of NLA to connect with students on a new level and meet them where they are. Parents and teachers are often amazed and gratified to learn about the functions of echolalia and how it can be shaped and developed." – A.S., SLP

"I have several clients who have already made noticeable gains once we switched to this approach. My clients are getting more out of our sessions now that sensorimotor is addressed and we take a child-directed approach." – B.Z., SLP

"I use the NLA techniques during therapy sessions. It has helped me improve language facilitation with GLPs." – P.H., SLP

"I wouldn't change anything about the NLA book, It's just awesome." – R.K., SLP

"I love this book. It has totally changed the way I think about echolalia and scripted language." – C.D., SLP

"I now own two copies of this book and have read it in its entirety, and have read certain sections repeatedly...sometimes with tears in my eyes, because it is so beautiful. I integrated your work into my grad course in ASD this past July, and shared your writings and ideas with my students." – L.S., PhD-SLP

"This book feels very personal, but it's bigger than that: it is profound and awe-inspiring." – K.L., SLP

"A few weeks ago, someone recommended this book to me. I'm only halfway through, but it has really changed how I do therapy (or want to do therapy) with a couple of my kids!" – K.M., SLP

"I love this book! I loved reading it cover to cover: I was awed, and compelled, and interested, and emotional throughout the whole book. I loved learning this complex subject by seeing things so clearly laid out. This is the language course we missed in school—the one that will help us make sense of the kids we haven’t understood!

Marge has done an amazing job of taking an abstract subject, one that depends on other abstract subjects, and making it readable, understandable, and doable. Marge’s style feels like a natural conversation with the reader—which makes the reader want to take part in the conversation and do the exercises she has laid out. Marge’s book motivates us, teaches us, and tells us how to become the support to children that we want to be!

This is a reference book I will return to again and again because the words are so powerful and important for understanding our kids, recognizing how far they have come when they mitigate, and knowing how to help them continue towards developing generative language.

Thank you, Marge! This is such an essential book for every SLP and every parent of a child who uses echolalia!"

"This book is a blessing for parents and SLPs! It gives us permission to focus on language development, which we are uniquely educated to appreciate and support. By her careful review of the literature, Marge reminds us that the documentation of children with ASD developing natural language is not new, and has been seen across time, children, and environments. But in our current educational climate, we are rarely afforded the time and permission to support students in the ways we know will matter to them as individuals with great potential.

As a public school SLP, I so often hear parents and teachers recognizing the limitations of “functional language programs,” passionately protesting: “But there’s so much more in there!” Now, with the principles of NLA explained and illustrated, we can outline programs of true language development for our students so they can express their own intentions—and find their own authentic voices.

Thank you! The book is marvelous!"

– K.S., SLP

"Natural Language Acquisition has changed the way I approach kids’ language treatment! As a hospital-based SLP, I find parents to be so in touch with their kids that I give them the theory and they provide me examples! This book feels very personal, but it’s bigger than that: it is profound and awe-inspiring.

Because of the Communication Development Center, there are people all over the country who are carrying seeds of change with them. I feel like a seed that has been watered, and I find that I am talking to my colleagues and families all the time about this exciting, but natural, approach.

There is a movement afoot that is fueled by Marge’s work."

– K.L., SLP

"As an SLP, I can feel parents’ uneasiness trying to carry out techniques that “teach” communication skills while trying to honor their personal relationship and bond with their own child. It has been a joy to share Natural Language Acquisition with parents and witness their excitement the first time they participate in a meaningful and reciprocal conversation with their child with ASD.

This book empowers parents and SLPs to fully appreciate and honor the language their children have, provides strategies and tools to facilitate further language development, and provides opportunities for families to experience mutually fulfilling and exciting communicative interactions. Approaching language development from the NLA perspectives facilitates understanding of the physical, environmental, and emotional supports for each child as well as an appreciation of their unique strengths. And there is nothing that warms the heart and motivates the spirit like seeing a child experience success."

– J.S., SLP

"Marge has brought together decades of research and clinical insight to develop this comprehensive look at the patterns of language development through which kids on the autism spectrum progress. Marge’s work will revolutionize your thinking about your child’s language and help you understand the depth of meaning behind it!"

– M.S., SLP

"Marge beautifully demonstrates how children develop language and how natural language development can be!

This is a ‘must read book’ for every parent who wants to understand how language development can be built into speech and language therapy. And it is the perfect book to help you decide the balance of approaches (play/ABA) you want for your child.

While the author intended this book primarily for families of kids on the autism spectrum, the concepts equally apply to language-delayed children who are gestalt learners, but who are not on the autism spectrum! As the mother of such a boy, I understand that echolalia is part of the learning style of very typically-developing children. I found that most people don’t know that, and think that echolalia equals autism—just like that!

This book helped me think through the stages of language development for my son, and I realized that the book was written for my son, too, and to help my family with its own journey! “

Thank you, Marge, for your wonderful work!"

– S.K., Parent

"Natural Language Acquisition on the Autism Spectrum: The Journey from Echolalia to Self-Generated Language is a wonderful resource that provides the most comprehensive consideration of echolalia and language characteristics of persons with autism to date.

In this seminal work, Marge Blanc, an experienced clinician and clinical researcher, brings us back to a crucial understanding of language characteristics and language acquisition in ASD based on her deep understanding of language development from a social-pragmatic, child-centered perspective. Unfortunately, too many educators and therapists hold on to outdated and disproven perceptions of echolalia and gestalt language and attempt to 'treat' echolalia with a lack of knowledge of the historical context and research basis of our understanding of language development in ASD.

By looking at echolalia only through a behavioral lens of pathology rather than through a developmental perspective based on research on autism and typical development, such practices may actually be hindering functional language development. It is hoped that this important work will help educators, therapists and parents move to more contemporary understandings and practices.

This book is a 'must-read' for all who care about supporting social communication for persons with ASD based on research and sound clinical practice."

Barry M. Prizant, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Adjunct Professor
Brown University

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