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Our Story

"We are making a shift from medical model therapy to holistic, neurodiversity-affirming practices by embracing the way children learn best. These cards are meant to enrich the language environment and give parents/clinicians tangible items to help model. We are taking away the overwhelming feeling of "just start" and changing it to "let's do this together."
Farwa Husain, M.S., CCC-SLP, speech therapist and owner of Gestalt Goodness

Farwa Husain, M.S., CCC-SLP

Founder, Gestalt Goodness™

Owner, One-on-One Speech Therapy

"As a speech-language pathologist, my mission is to honor all forms of communication and help support a child with multimodal supports. That means acknowledging all forms of communication."

Gestalt Goodness™ represents the vision of Farwa Husain, M.S., CCC-SLP, a pediatric speech therapist who specializes in working with autistic children and gestalt language processors. Recognizing a crucial need within her own therapy sessions for physical tools that align with each child's unique learning styles (including Gestalt language processors'), she created these interactive cards.

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Many of the gestalt language processors she works with can read and love letters, numbers, and animals. She began writing down the phrases she was using in therapy and pairing them with pictures to engage her clients. Using her children's voices, she then added voice recordings to each phrase and image. Her clients not only loved reading the phrases and looking at the pictures but also really enjoyed listening to the voices. She shared these phrases with her clients' parents, and they started to use them in their own lives! 

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Farwa also works with many AAC users. Understanding the importance of meaningful communication for children, Farwa started having parents record their voices and their siblings' voices on different AAC devices. This made her clients who used AAC excited to embrace what previously seemed like a “scary” or “not normal” way to communicate. 

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Farwa also provides training to school districts on the topic of Echolalia. Recognizing that clinicians often have large caseloads and little prep time, there was a need for tangible action items to support ALL language learning styles including Gestalt language processors. 

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The Gestalt Goodness™ First Phrases Cards are designed for ALL language learning styles, including Gestalt language processors.

Farwa's Professional Experience

  • Recognized as an Innovator at the 2023 ASHA convention

  • 2024 National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing (NBASLH) Clinician of the Year-SLP Award

  • 2024 Presenter for NBASLH at the 2024 national convention. Topic: Taking a Holistic Neurodiversity-Affirming Approach with Our Autistic Children

  • Currently serving as President of Morris County Speech and Hearing organization

  • Host of free parent webinars and SLP in-person meetups to educate others on GLP and to help create a supportive neurodiversity-affirming community

  • 2023 NJSHA state convention presenter, "TV talk Communicates: Looking at Behaviors that Suggest Gestalt Language Processing."

  • 2023 Speech Therapy PD's Back to School conference presenter, "Embracing Echolalia to Enhance Communication." 

  • 2023 Irish Special Interest Group, "It all communicates: introduction to gestalt language processing."

  • 2022 ASHA national convention co-presenter, "Using Natural Language Acquisition to Support Autistic and Neurotypical Gestalt Language Development."

  • Teachers College, Columbia University, “Introduction to Gestalt Language Processing.”

  • Speech Therapy PD co-presenter, "Interdisciplinary Practice: Enhancing Communication in Neurodivergent Children."

  • One-on-One Speech Therapy and KidPT webinar, "Communication Head-to-Toe for Neurodivergent Children." 

  • Morris County Speech and Hearing Association speaker on the topics of bilingualism, gestalt language processing, and interdisciplinary practices.

  • International presenter and mentor on the topic of Gestalt Language Processing and neurodiversity-affirming practices 

The  "Whole Lotta Goodness" Initiative

This is for the incredible therapists and teachers that are working to change the lives of children through neurodiversity-affirming practices!

 

We at Gestalt Goodness are passionate about building an empowered community and want to support you in providing effective, evidence-based services to your students. We also know that there are many settings that do not have all the resources but are filled with wonderful therapists, teachers, and staff that go above and beyond to provide for their students!

 

We want to highlight YOU! Tell us your story and how you are making magic with the resources that you have. 

 

We will choose a clinician each month, highlight you on our social platforms, and send you a FREE First Phrases box! It is our way to support you and to say thank you. You are doing an amazing job! 

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