If you ever have come across the term “Echolalia” either through media and/or past literature (recent literature has evolved with time, phew!) you come to realise it’s a forbidden word. I must admit as a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) I feared it too.
Unfortunately, “Echolalia” has been viewed through a pathological lens until recently where SLPs and experts in the speech- language pathology field have made friends with it. Going back to the drawing board and revisiting literature about Echolalia, where it’s beauty was tapped upon and unfolded. This understanding has not been less than brushing against an Aladdin’s Lamp.
As we get into a deeper understanding of Echolalia. I would like to draw your attention to those experiences where you had “rehearsed” or “practiced” a phrase over and over again to either make friends in the local community or to sound smooth before a meeting. Wonder why this helps because we probably want to practice it so well that it becomes much like a “script” or gestalt(ref: https://www.say speech.com/post/gestalt-language-processing-the-other-way-of-language-learning).
This is pretty much a good start to understanding Echolalia and it’s functions. Let’s keep this analogy in mind as we continue to discover the power of “Echolalia”- Where “echoing” or “repetition” becomes the building blocks of spontaneous and flexible language.
What’s Echolalia: understanding it’s value
Echolalia has been defined as the repetition of expressive language one hears, either immediately (immediate echolalia) or delayed by minutes or years (delayed echolalia; Stiegler, 2015).
Looking back at literature Echolalia has been often considered a trait or characteristic of autism and viewed through the pathological lens. Although there is significant literature that’s been documented among neurotypical language learners ( typical language development) *as well (Peters,1980).
Echolalia was seen as something “meaningless”, to be “eliminated”. However, research does show it has a “communicative value” for both immediate and delayed echolalia in autism (Prizant & Rydell, 1984; Stiegler, 2015).
* Neuroaffirming language used.
Types of Echolalia- there are two types/ kinds of echolalia- immediate and delayed echolalia. The later plays a part of gestalt language development while the former does not. Although most gestalt language processors (GLPs) use immediate echolalia as well. Thus, highlighting the fact that both immediate and delayed echolalia are meaningful and have communicative functions.
Communicative functions of
Immediate Echolalia-
- To process/ comprehend/ register language
- To take a turn in interaction, letting the listeners know they are very much interested in the conversation and would love to be a part of it, even though they may not have conventional language ready for it
- To rehearse and retain the language in memory
- To think about the language
- Probably a sign of dysregulation (body, emotional discomfort)
- To indicate they aren’t developmentally ready for routine question -answer conversations
Example-
Aunty- “What’s your name sweetie”?
Child- “What’s your name sweetie”?
Mum of the child prompts and says “Tell her your name is Tara”
Child- “Tell her your name is Tara”
Communicative functions of
Delayed Echolalia-
- A gestalt script tied to a meaningful emotional experience
- Probably a sign of dysregulation
- A way to self- stim (repetitive behaviour- vocal play/ sound play) to help regulate(calming) one-self.
- The first stage of Gestalt Language Development
Example-
Child- pointing towards a toy at the store
Mum- It’s expensive, not today baba! (with a cajoling face)
Next time at the store again, mum buying groceries’
Child- It’s expensive, not today baba!
So dear readers, the next time you hear “Echolalia” remember it isn’t a disorder but a different way of language learning. Acceptance and Acknowledgment is the key. See you in the next one! Until then it’s the time to Echolalia!
Written by-
Anushree Harihar
Speech Language Pathologist (AAC+GLP trained clinician)
Resources-
- https://communicationdevelopmentcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/blanc-et-al-2023-using-the-natural-language-acquisition-protocol-to-suppor.nt-1.pdf
- https://www.meaningfulspeech.com/blog/Immediate-and-Delayed-Echolalia
- https://pubs.asha.org/doi/abs/10.1044/jshd.4603.241
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