AskAnAspie

Echolalia

Q: Can you comment on your experiences with echolalia.

I have a 3 year old daughter who has both immediate and delayed echolalia. I have read that many individuals on the spectrum have echolalia. She has not had a formal assessment yet, but we are planning to take her soon..

If you have echolalia, does that necessarily mean that you have Asperger's or Autism?

Thank you,

Elizabeth

A: Hmm! You're quite right that lots of people on the autistic spectrum have
had issues with echolalia. Unfortunately (well, fortunately for me), I'm not
one of them. So I can't speak very well from experience here, though perhaps
Wiley or Lynn will have something to contribute. What I can do is answer the
latter part of your question: does echolalia necessarily mean your daughter
has an autistic-spectrum disorder? The answer to this question is no. You
can find here a
page about echolalia; while the header is "Echolalia and Autism," it
contains lots of information that will be helpful to anyone concerned about
echolalia. (A nearby header, "Echolalia References," contains the quite
straightforward sentence, "Having echolalia does not mean the person
absolutely has autism but it can be a symptom of autism." I'd say that
pretty much sums it up.) The page I linked to above includes the following
quote, which I hope you find reassuring:
"Even echolalia is a normal way to learn language. Most children use
echolalia to learn language. The majority of children babble in a rhythmic
way, which is actually mimicking the cadence of our language. Later, they
copy sounds, words, and eventually phrases and sentences that they hear
adults use in specific, repetitive contexts. This is known as the "gestalt"
style of language acquisition. Gestalt means whole, therefore, learning
language in gestalt form would be learning it in chunks rather than the tiny
component sounds and specific meaning of each individual sound or even
word."
That said, I would be remiss if I didn't add that a spectrum disorder is a
real possibility, especially if you have other reasons to think your
daughter might have neurological differences. I hasten to add that not every
disorder on the spectrum has to be the end of the world -- I rather like
having Asperger's -- though it's true that crippling forms of classical
autism pretty much suck for all concerned.
I hope your challenges with echolalia subside over time, and that your
daughter's diagnosis comes out for the best! Best of luck!
--Brian

Why does he watch the same video over and over?

Q: I have a 5 year old twin boy (his brother is "typical") who is non-verbal, but does better than average in the eye contact and "changes in daily life" areas.

Here are my questions; if you can't answer them or even give your opinion, I totally understand.

1) Cole (my son) loves to watch certain parts of a video over and over and over again for hours sometimes- just like a "stim". Can you tell me what he gets out of it? Is it to "organize" himself?

2) Were any of you non-verbal at this age? If any of you were non or "limited" verbals who eventually started language, can you tell me what it was that may have "triggered" you to start talking? Cole understands us perfectly (he's very, very smart and very bull-headed) and seemingly doesn't want to talk. We know this isn't true, but if he has a few words- why not more???

Thank you so much!

Courtland

A: Ok, I'll take these one at a time...
1) This is probably going to seem like a simplistic explanation, but it's probably just a really neat part of the video. I have a screensaver that I've had to take off my computer because it was just so much fun to watch that I never got any work done. Sometimes stimming is done to control stress, but other times it's just because it's really fun. The analogy I like to draw is to a bowl of ice cream. If you've had a really bad day and you're feeling upset, you might have a bowl of ice cream to cheer yourself up. But you also might just have one because they taste good and you felt like it.

2) As an Aspie, I've never really had verbal problems and I actually started to talk relatively early, but I do know what it's like to "not want to talk" when I'm stressed. Basically, it's like trying to talk with your mouth full of molasses. It's an incredible amount of effort to say anything, and it just doesn't seem worth the bother. Now, since my family and friends all know that I can talk, and trying to explain why I have trouble talking in, say, a crowded grocery store would be difficult and awkward, I usually make myself talk anyway. But I avoid it when I can and when I'm out shopping by myself I usually wear ear plugs and communicate with cashiers in writing. I want to reiterate that language is one of the areas in which Aspies and the classic Autism side of the spectrum tend to be different, and I can't guarentee that any of this is the same as what your son is feeling. It's just my personal experience.

One thing that I've found worked for me and that I've heard a lot of good things about from friends all over the spectrum is Sign Language. I can't explain why, but it just doesn't produce that same inertia feeling that spoken language does.

Wiley