Anonymous
Post 06/15/2013 09:14     Subject: Re:echolalia and not ASD?
My youngest DS with apraxia/MERLD does what 22:13 describes. When he was about 2.5, he would repeat phrases from movies/TV shows as we were watching them and he would also do it while he was playing (he has/had very imaginative play). ASD was definitively ruled out by and NIH research team and by a dev ped when he was 2.5. He's now 7 and is diagnosed with a language/communication disorder. He is notably impaired by it and continues to incorporate a lot of sign language. He still uses a lot of scripted language in appropriate contexts and he acquires a lot of language/phrases by watching movies/TVs. I'm not saying all his language is derived from scripting or movies/TV. What I'm saying is that it much easier for him to understand language and context by observing interactions. I think being an observer rather than a participant reduces the demands on that part of his brain that processes language allowing him to more easily understand what's being said, understanding the context and then allowing him to acquire the language. Also, as 22:13 noted, all the SLPs we've worked with have encouraged him to repeat what is said to him because it helps him remember what was said. The advice was also given to our older DS with ADHD.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2013 22:13     Subject: echolalia and not ASD?
Anonymous wrote:When DC turned 4 started doing a lot of delayed echolalia. We have a developmental pediatric appointment coming up, but I'm just wondering if there are kids out there who didn't test on the spectrum but still do this. TIA.


Echolalia and scripting are different things. True echolalia is a sign of autism. Scripting happens in all kinds of kids; it's very common in MERLD kids, for example. And kids with weak auditory memories are sometimes repeating things to help remember them.

And if a kid has had a lot of speech therapy, there are "taught" echolalia: They are expected to parrot back everything the speechie says. Then when the child continues on with the skill he has been conditioned with (repeating), they try to say it's echolalia.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2013 21:50     Subject: Re:echolalia and not ASD?
Anonymous wrote:

Here's a quote on echolalia from Dr. Stephen Camarata of Vanderbilt. He's one of the foremost researchers in the U.S. on how children acquire language:


Echolalia is the MEANINGLESS repetition of vocalizations produced by another. In autism, the children repeat, either immediately (immediate
echolalia) or later (delayed echolalia) produced by someone else. The key qualitative aspect of this is that it sounds like parroting and the child does not appear to have any idea of the meaning or functional use of the words they echo. Like so many aspects of autism, after you have observed true echolalia, it is unmistakable. In contrast to echolalia are a) unprompted imitation, and b) scripting, which are both common in many late talkers AND ALSO in typically developing children. The key difference is that unprompted imitation and scripting both have a direct or indirect correspondence to the situation and the child will often show some degree of meaning in what they repeat.

Unfortunately, many clinicians seem to be unaware that unprompted imitation and scripting are normal aspects of development and should not be viewed as alarming at all. Indeed, if a child imitates and makes even a small change in the utterance, this is often a precursor to a language burst. So rather than being a behavior to get rid of, the imitation is actually very positive.
Stephen Camarata


It depends on the age. I think Dr. Camarata has an agenda to under play autism, but that's just my opinion.
If you have a 15 yr old, a 10 yr old, or a 5 yr old, who doesn't know how to respond in a social situation and starts parroting a movie and the parroting has some meaning with the current situation, I would want to get a dx at that point. I wouldn't rule out ASD b/c the parroting has some connection to the situation.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2013 21:22     Subject: Re:echolalia and not ASD?


Here's a quote on echolalia from Dr. Stephen Camarata of Vanderbilt. He's one of the foremost researchers in the U.S. on how children acquire language:


Echolalia is the MEANINGLESS repetition of vocalizations produced by another. In autism, the children repeat, either immediately (immediate
echolalia) or later (delayed echolalia) produced by someone else. The key qualitative aspect of this is that it sounds like parroting and the child does not appear to have any idea of the meaning or functional use of the words they echo. Like so many aspects of autism, after you have observed true echolalia, it is unmistakable. In contrast to echolalia are a) unprompted imitation, and b) scripting, which are both common in many late talkers AND ALSO in typically developing children. The key difference is that unprompted imitation and scripting both have a direct or indirect correspondence to the situation and the child will often show some degree of meaning in what they repeat.

Unfortunately, many clinicians seem to be unaware that unprompted imitation and scripting are normal aspects of development and should not be viewed as alarming at all. Indeed, if a child imitates and makes even a small change in the utterance, this is often a precursor to a language burst. So rather than being a behavior to get rid of, the imitation is actually very positive.
Stephen Camarata
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2013 21:00     Subject: echolalia and not ASD?
Can be normal. I would do a developmental ped but our experience is that they over diagnose Autism. I would also have a speech specific evaluation and get her/him in speech therapy.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2013 20:39     Subject: Re:echolalia and not ASD?
My daughter was first evaluated by a psychologist who noted her echolalia in the report, but after doing ADOS and other tests, determined that she was not on the spectrum. The psychologist said that DD had anxiety, sensory issues, social skills deficits, and should be monitored for attentional issues. DD was diagnosed with Asperger's in a later eval, but the fact that the first dr. observed the echolalia and still didn't think she was on the spectrum makes me think echolalia might happen in some non-spectrum children.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2013 16:47     Subject: echolalia and not ASD?
When DC turned 4 started doing a lot of delayed echolalia. We have a developmental pediatric appointment coming up, but I'm just wondering if there are kids out there who didn't test on the spectrum but still do this. TIA.