Echolalia

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My daughter has become a parrot. She isn't doing it on purpose, I've learned, but she keeps repeating things I say. For example I will say to her brother, "Honey, it's time for you to take your nap now." My daughter will say, "Honey, it's time for you to take your nap now." I tell her to stop repeating me so much, and she says, "I'm not repeating!"

It's not everything, and it isn't all the time, but she is doing it more frequently. I ask her if she is a parrot, and she says, "Okay, parrot is a pretty bird with rainbows in his feathers." lol

Last edited by siuan on 19 Nov 2007, 6:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I have a similar tic called palilalia, where I repeat my own words. I honestly never knew I did it until my brother pointed it out to me. I thought he was making it up until my mother told me that she'd seen me do it.

I've noticed that it's gotten better over time, and it almost never happens when I'm calm. It starts flaring up when I'm upset though.

I was palalic when I was little--my mom just always thought I was mumbling under my breath, but I was repeating myself quietly. My son is echolalic though-- he repeats people sometimes, such as using specific words or phrases that they use only around them-- but mostly he repeats lines from kids shows and movies. All day today he has been walking around saying "play, laugh, grow...experience the wonder online at www.fisherprice.com" b/c he likes that commercial. it is hard to deal with and is one of his only "outward" signs that might make anyone think he has a problem. He doesn't understand that it is repeating, and I have had no luck explaining it to him that it is not nice to say the same thing over and over again. my only encouragement is that I have been told this generally improves with age in young kids.

kate

I did that when I was younger too. My family used to laugh at me for repeating my own words.

I would nip this in the bud and fast. It is is perceived as odd when a adult does this, disprespectful when a teenager does it--possibly cute and silly for a young child. I've encountered adults that did this and, believe me, it is not accepted as okay.

just some thoughts.

I've always felt that it was belittling to have someone parrot back what you say and have always discouraged it.

(low tolerance for this item--can't you tell)

I DO repeat my own words, too. I think it's a method of stalling for processing delays

I make myself sick somtimes--sound like a broken record.

equinn

Echolalia is an important developmental tool in learning how to speak and how to make sense of language. Because autistics have significant speech and language delay, echolalia can be a much longer process.

It may signify some communication need or need to understand what's going on or what's expected of her. Just because others might feel insecure or annoyed is no reason to force a child to abandon it. A child is not responsible for the mental health of others.

I had echolalia as a kid. I didn't know it was that, of course. I repeated commercials a lot. I forced it inward. To this day I will repeat the last things a person says to me over and over and over silently (sometimes out loud, though rarely and only when alone).

Some commercials lend way to being "sticky". The fisher price one is an example. I get to repeating that non-verbally for days, sometimes verbally. The worst is a local carpet commercial, which I'll randomly bust out singing to my kids for no apparent reason. Heh. Just feels good, that's the only way I can describe it.

I never parroted people though, so that's a new experience for me.

Hear! Hear! Oh, and I realised some time ago I often say the same thing twice.

OMG I wish someone would have told my mother this! lol She would always say things like, "You kids are going to give me a nervous breakdown! Why are you so horrible? Why can't you just behave?"

We weren't bad kids by any stretch (mostly we annoyed her asking for necessities like food and picking us up from school on time), she just had no patience so she guilted us into thinking anything we did would "destroy" her. She threatened to run away a lot too because of it, sometimes storming out of the house leaving us in tears wondering if she was ever going to come back. Was it our fault she couldn't handle motherhood?

It's funny, my sister just mentioned how "normal" my little family seems despite all the autism. It is, really. Even with all the challenges autism presents, it still feels so much calmer and more stable than my own childhood was. I know what not to do

Yeah, my parents would come up with the gawdawfullest stuff. They'd calmly sit me in my room for a talk, then proceed to interrogate me about why I was trying to hurt them. My dad would "read my mind" and then I'd get in trouble for what he thought I was thinking.

Usually, it was, "You think I'm stupid, don't you?! Go to your room!! !"
My dad would pop off with the infamous, "I wish we never had you!!" Only I was adopted.

My husband and I come from opposite extremes (mine: overbearing, manipulative, controlling, his: neglectful, abusive, aloof) we combine forces to keep it midrange.

Is this a topic repeating itself? I did not know I could be punny!

I do not understand why others have a problem with echolalia or repeating words. It is only recently that I knew I engaged in this type of behaviour. I engage in echolalia in order to try to understand what the other person is saying, though the word the other person has used may be an interesting one that I would like to hear again. If someone repeats my words I consider it the basis for further explanation. However, if the person was repeating my words in what I considered an insulting or nonproductive way I would terminate the communication, though this happens infrequently as I primarily communicate in print, due to my having difficulty in the social realm and because I do not always understand others verbally.

I find that if others are impatient when addressing me I engage in echolalia even more and this further drives a wedge between us.

My son has started the repeating in the last year or so. I never really though of it as echolalia, but it makes sense I guess. He repeats anything he thinks is funny. It may have been funny the first time, but it loses its zest by the third, fourth or fifth time... Also while it may have been funny when one person said it, it often makes no sense or is inapropriate when my son says it... I hate calling him a copy-cat, but I am also concerned that the kids will ostracize him for repeating things the way he does (not just words either - actions too - anything that could be considered "funny"). He is 8, so he's past the "normal" age for copying (although he didn't do it at that age). It is very frustrating to everyone involved...

I do that kind of thing a lot - repeating something I heard earlier in the hour/day/week - in regular conversation, or as an answer to a question, even if it doesn't quite "fit".

Apparently I repeat myself too - say something, then a minute or two later in the conversation, say the same thing again.

Of course, I'm in college now. So it's not quite a growing-up thing But it's not really that frequent either.

How old is she? Echolalia is a common Autistic trait that your ST can help with. With the right intervention, it can decrease or go away entirely.

why not just work with her so she rephrases what is being repeated back?

I notice my bf's dad repeats back everything I say but rephrases it, barring something that is against his religion. So he won't say anything if I tell him I had pork chops for dinner, but if I say "I've been exhausted lately" he'll say something like, "You've been exhausted lately. Why do you think that is." And repeats every sentence I say.

It makes me feel like he is really intrigued with whatever it is I'm talking about

He is definately an aspie. He's also a CEO of a biotechnology company, and I wonder if this trait has played a key role in enabling him to succeed so much in life. No one is going to doubt that he understands whatever they just told him, because he's telling it back to them.