Echolalia in autism: What to do?

Echolalia is a typical part of language development around 1-2 years old because in that period children learn to communicate .Around 2 years old, children start using more complex ways o communication and they might only use echoing when complex questions are asked. By the age of 3, echolalia becomes minimal to inexistent. Children at this stage are capable to express their own thoughts through simple sentences to communicate with surroundings. If a child doesn’t move pass this stage, it might be a delay in language skills and therefore the child relies mainly on echolalia to communicate. If it happens, the child must be evaluated by a speech and language therapist in order to pinpoint the cause and treat language delay.

Echolalia is a form of verbal imitation which can be associated with different conditions, especially in autism. The main symptom of echolalia is the repetition of words, phrases and noises that have been heard. It can be immediate or delayed.

Immediate echolalia is the echoing of words that someone has just said. It can be an entire sentence, a phrase or a word. For example, if you ask your child.’ Would you like to drink water? The child may engage in immediate echolalia by replying in the same intonation like ‘drink water’?

Delayed echolalia is the repetition of speech after time has passed. Sometimes it takes the forms o line room TV shows, movies, videos, video games, rhymes, or books. Beside this, it may be words that were spoken by family members, friends, teachers or caregivers.

There are two main categories of echolalia: functional echolalia and non-functional echolalia.

Functional echolalia is when the child echos with a communicative intent, it can be for purposes such as turn-taking, to provide information, answer questions or makes a request. When it is not intended to be used as an interaction, children use echolalia when they are not focused, to label something, direct oneself, or as a rehearsal.

How common is echolalia in autism?

Echolalia is most commonly linked with autism. Echolalia can be an indicator of communication disorder in autism. In 1987, Barry Prizant reported that echolalia is characteristic of least 85% of children with autism who acquire speech. In some cases, echolalia has no communicative meaning at all. It may simply be a self-calming tool that the child with autism is using in the same way as he may use hand-flapping or rocking. For typical toddlers, it’s a transitional period of language development. For autistic people who don’t have functional language skill, it’s a means of communication.

 Autistic children have a tendency to use immediate and delayed echolalia. Immediate echolalia is commonly used because children with autism don’t have the ability to process language, produce spontaneous speech to express thoughts and feelings; as a result they repeat what they hear.

On the other hand, children with autism use delayed echolalia for other purpose like self stimulation, making request, processing memories, expressing a mood, engaging in conversational turn taking and so on.

 How to respond to echolalia?

If your child is using echolalia, it’s a great sign which indicates they might be able to move on to form novel sentences. When children with autism have not adequate language skills then they use echolalia for a variety of communicative purposes which is usually to maintain social contact with others. Misinterpreting these attempts can be detrimental to the linguistic, social and emotional well-being of the person with autism. When you notice your child using echolalia, try to identify the reason behind it so that you can shape his or her communication. In quintessence, this might involve giving the individual the words they don’t have and teaching them the correct way to say things through prompting or modeling. For example, you may say’ what is the color of ball? And immediately follow up with; red’ or if you see your child struggling to reach something then model what they might want to say with; I need some help ’ and help them out.

Avoid direct questioning in everyday communication. It hinders the child from initiating his own statements. Rather than asking him ‘do you want to eat lunch now? Substitute variety statements such as ‘let’s eat lunch now’ or ‘it’s time for lunch ‘or I want to eat lunch. In this way, the child learns various forms of how to make comments within the environment. If he chooses to use echolalia, it will be correctly produced as a statement and he will build a repertoire of many statements from which to choose. It is also necessary to provide more simplistic linguistic forms. Limit your talking when presenting a choice to the child because certain language construction is beyond the comprehension for some people with autism.

Furthermore, if you observe your child has echolalia then it is very crucial to consult a speech and language therapist to obtain further information. Echolalia can be treated completely with the help of a qualified speech and language therapist.

 

Echolalia in autism: What to do?

Echolalia is a typical part of language development around 1-2 years old because in that period children learn to communicate .Around 2 years old, children start using more complex ways o communication and they might only use echoing when complex questions are asked. By the age of 3, echolalia becomes minimal to inexistent. Children at this stage are capable to express their own thoughts through simple sentences to communicate with surroundings. If a child doesnt move pass this stage, it might be a delay in language skills and therefore the child relies mainly on echolalia to communicate. If it happens, the child must be evaluated by a speech and language therapist in order to pinpoint the cause and treat language delay. Echolalia is a form of verbal imitation which can be associated with different conditions, especially in autism. The main symptom of echolalia is the repetition of words, phrases and noises that have been heard. It can be immediate or delayed. Immediate echolalia is the echoing of words that someone has just said. It can be an entire sentence, a phrase or a word. For example, if you ask your child. Would you like to drink water? The child may engage in immediate echolalia by replying in the same intonation like drink water? Delayed echolalia is the repetition of speech after time has passed. Sometimes it takes the forms o line room TV shows, movies, videos, video games, rhymes, or books. Beside this, it may be words that were spoken by family members, friends, teachers or caregivers. There are two main categories of echolalia: functional echolalia and non-functional echolalia. Functional echolalia is when the child echos with a communicative intent, it can be for purposes such as turn-taking, to provide information, answer questions or makes a request. When it is not intended to be used as an interaction, children use echolalia when they are not focused, to label something, direct oneself, or as a rehearsal. How common is echolalia in autism? Echolalia is most commonly linked with autism. Echolalia can be an indicator of communication disorder in autism. In 1987, Barry Prizant reported that echolalia is characteristic of least 85% of children with autism who acquire speech. In some cases, echolalia has no communicative meaning at all. It may simply be a self-calming tool that the child with autism is using in the same way as he may use hand-flapping or rocking. For typical toddlers, its a transitional period of language development. For autistic people who dont have functional language skill, its a means of communication. Autistic children have a tendency to use immediate and delayed echolalia. Immediate echolalia is commonly used because children with autism dont have the ability to process language, produce spontaneous speech to express thoughts and feelings; as a result they repeat what they hear. On the other hand, children with autism use delayed echolalia for other purpose like self stimulation, making request, processing memories, expressing a mood, engaging in conversational turn taking and so on. How to respond to echolalia? If your child is using echolalia, its a great sign which indicates they might be able to move on to form novel sentences. When children with autism have not adequate language skills then they use echolalia for a variety of communicative purposes which is usually to maintain social contact with others. Misinterpreting these attempts can be detrimental to the linguistic, social and emotional well-being of the person with autism. When you notice your child using echolalia, try to identify the reason behind it so that you can shape his or her communication. In quintessence, this might involve giving the individual the words they dont have and teaching them the correct way to say things through prompting or modeling. For example, you may say what is the color of ball? And immediately follow up with; red or if you see your child struggling to reach something then model what they might want to say with; I need some help and help them out. Avoid direct questioning in everyday communication. It hinders the child from initiating his own statements. Rather than asking him do you want to eat lunch now? Substitute variety statements such as lets eat lunch now or its time for lunch or I want to eat lunch. In this way, the child learns various forms of how to make comments within the environment. If he chooses to use echolalia, it will be correctly produced as a statement and he will build a repertoire of many statements from which to choose. It is also necessary to provide more simplistic linguistic forms. Limit your talking when presenting a choice to the child because certain language construction is beyond the comprehension for some people with autism. Furthermore, if you observe your child has echolalia then it is very crucial to consult a speech and language therapist to obtain further information. Echolalia can be treated completely with the help of a qualified speech and language therapist.