Echolalia | Imamother

imasinger

Fri, Oct 15 2021, 6:12 am

Both sides are right.

From WebMD:

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Quote:

Echolalia is the repetition or echoing of words or sounds that you hear someone else say. It is an important step for language development in children.‌

Echolalia can also be a sign of autism or developmental disability in children or neurological problems in adults. These include a stroke or psychiatric disorders like Tourette’s syndrome.

Causes of Echolalia
‌Children often learn to speak by repeating words that they hear. Echolalia is commonly seen in toddlers during the first 3 years. Echolalia can be a problem if it continues in children older than 3.

Echolalia in children. Echolalia is a sign of autism, developmental disability, or communication disability in children over the age of 3.‌

It can happen in children with autism spectrum disorders like Asperger’s syndrome. They may need extra time to process the world around them and what people say to them. This causes them to copy or repeat the sounds or words they hear.

FranticFrummie

Fri, Oct 15 2021, 7:09 am

What Imasinger said.

I babysit 5yo and 18mo little girls. They speak Spanish at home, and Hebrew in gan. The older one is almost fluent in English now. The little one has way over 50 words in her vocabulary.

The last time I visited, the 18mo was speaking English words!

The 5yo wisely told me "She is just repeating words that she hears me say. She doesn't really know English, and she doesn't understand what any of the words mean."

First of all, I was amazed that the 5yo came to this conclusion all on her own. (Both kids are super-scary-smart.)

Second, it really shows that toddlers have to repeat words quite a few times before they associate it with an actual feeling, person, or object. You have to point to your nose and say "nose" several times before they will point to the right place when you say "Where is your nose?" "Is that my nose?" "Where is Abba's nose?"

When you start to worry, is when they don't make the association, and the repeating continues to be meaningless to them. The fun is just in the repeating, but there's no goal at the end.

imasinger

Fri, Oct 15 2021, 7:50 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

I agree with all of this, with the possible exception of the last part.

Not that it's likely to apply in the case of OP, but in case anyone does a search on echolalia on the board, and finds this thread in the future, it's important to understand that children with language processing issues like autism are sometimes able to use repetition in a highly meaningful way.

There are many, many stories of kids with ASD repeating a line from a beloved movie as a very appropriate response in a given circumstance.

A speech pathologist, neuropsychologist, or developmental pediatrician might be of use to distinguish between a multiple language learning issue, and an auditory processing issue.

As a general rule, if you see your 2+ year old child is not communicating at a level to his/her peers, talk to your pediatrician about when to look further. Early intervention is helpful.

FranticFrummie

Fri, Oct 15 2021, 7:54 am

imasinger wrote:

I agree with all of this, with the possible exception of the last part.

Not that it's likely to apply in the case of OP, but in case anyone does a search on echolalia in the future, it's important to understand that children with language processing issues like autism are sometimes able to use repetition in a highly meaningful way.

There are many, many stories of kids with ASD repeating a line from a beloved movie as a very appropriate response in a given circumstance.

A speech pathologist, neuropsychologist, or developmental pediatrician might be of use to distinguish between a multiple language learning issue, and an auditory processing issue.

Good point! I saw a show about a HFA young man who was obsessed with James Bond. He always dressed in a really dapper way, was very handsome, and was a complete gentleman. He used movie lines a lot in conversation, but he did it so smoothly that it didn't sound robotic or scripted. He was absolutely adorable. If I were his age, I'd date him!

https://youtu.be/3rYM9c-maPU