ABSTRACT
Gesture and speech are naturally linked. Speech is the outcome of analytic linguistic micro-genesis that parallels a global imagistic internal process. The underlying processes of speech and gesture form a Growth Point (GP), which propels through and speech forward. This conceptualization of the relation between gesture and speech provides a framework to describe and interpret language disorders and specific conditions. We consider evidence from research and observations that suggests the GP plays a role in communication disorders. Individuals with Broca’s aphasia may have an inability to unpack the GP. Children with Down syndrome use gestures that appear to merely serve a redundancy function of the spoken information, without the distinct contribution of each modality (gesture and speech). In persons with Williams syndrome, the relatively intact language production can be explained as the result of a disruption of the GP resulting in a disconnection between the social framing of “thinking-for-speaking” and “pure thought.” Autism may involve an imbalance between enactment and speech. Further research is needed to differentiate the particular aspects of the GP that disrupt communication in the context of Down syndrome, aphasia, Williams syndrome, and autism.
