Communication Development Center

And now that you are here, we want to give you a road map, really a star map, to our website…to help you decide where to travel next. Yes, your journey is all about language development, but along the way, you will find resources about Self-regulation, Child-led therapy, Speech praxis (motor planning), Language retrieval, Bilingual language development, Multi-modal communication, and more. As the saying goes, “To infinity…and beyond!”

So let’s get started! First, with a word about development in general…because language development is a part of child development. And child development is natural. That should go without saying, right? But when children are delayed in development, well-meaning people sometimes think that they can be ’taught’ alternative strategies. Kids do learn things, but those strategies don’t replace development, and actually hinder it. But when we partner with our children, we have the potential to support them in *becoming* the people they already are. They were born to be themselves; and with our support, can develop into the freest version of themselves.

Next, please continue to consider language development as part of child development. It is part of life — experienced in individual ways. Different cultures have conventions that decide some of the rules of language forms (grammar, word structure, etc), but language itself is the ‘close-caption’ part of an experience. It’s the sound track, the surround-sound, a symbolic part of experience. And language processing is part of ‘experience-processing.’ Some young children first experience language as single words (‘ball’); others first experience it as gestalts (“There it goes. The ball went out of the park.”). This is the difference between analytic and gestalt processing! On your journey, you will learn all about it!

So who are we? The Communication Development Center (CDC) is an outgrowth of a long-standing clinical practice that developed Natural Language Acquisition (NLA), and is still the home of NLA. Now CDC has become an international information center, and is becoming an important resource base, with incredible articles, blogs, posts, handouts, and a full library of materials available to peruse now or later. As we expand our universe of possibilities, you will be able to read and share everything on this growing site free of charge. We feel passionate that this information be accessible to everyone. While there are links to purchase the original NLA book, and three professional-level NLA courses, the information here is extensive and completely free. This information doesn’t ‘belong’ to anyone, and exclusivity is antithetical to the universal sharing that this movement is about. Just as NLA Facebook groups are spreading internationally, we are cognizant of the fact that this natural language acquisition style needs to be understood by everyone. The days of pathologizing echolalia, and considering GLPs to be substandard ALPs, can no longer continue. Now into the ‘…beyond.’ Welcome!