My son is 3 years old and has been recently screened at being around the 18 month level for speech and around 23 month level for receptive language. This is a huge improvement for him in recent months. He was diagnosed in January as having PDD NOS and definately has some echolalia.

Right now, we find he is going through a huge learning curve and we hear much more babbling and jargoning coming from him. He has increased some words, but he often will loose speech as he gains a word or phrase. It is not often that he gets a label correctly and uses words indiscriminately. We have been told to take this as his way of communicating and if he says the word "turtle" (he says "tor toe" and this is a new word he has glommed onto and uses frequently lately) then we just respond and communicate back without correcting him as per se. When he learns a new word, often Mommy and Daddy become mixed up as well. A few months ago we could have banked on those words disappearing as well, so we know he is progressing.

My question is echolalia. He has some possible fluid in his ears that needs addressing (tested with flat eardrums recently) and often his speech is not fully clear, but we can make it out. It is just that when he echos us it seems to be MUCH clearer than when he is using his own words, if that makes sense. It is still not fully clear, but it is crisper. Does that make any sense at all? For instance, we went to get bloodwork done yesterday and while there one of the technicians kept saying "it is almost over" to him as he was so upset. He repeated the phrase and it was completely understandable. Is this common?

We do use sign language to an extent with him as well. He hardly ever attempts to sign but has recognition of them it seems. His repetoire is still very small as yet.

Any advice or insight would be very appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Hello,
Although my specialty is related more to pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders, I will do my best to provide you with some guidance. First, is your child currently in a program for developing speech and language? There are several speech therapists that are "specialists" in the area of echolalia and communication systems that can help you achieve more consistent verbal responses.

That being said, my educational background has been through the training of Barry Prizant, a leader in the field communication and autism. He has done research regarding echolalia and believes that echolalia is a good prognostic indicator of future language learning and verbal communication. All children go through stages of language learning and echolalia is one of those stages needed for developing speech. When a child repeats words or phrases exactly with the same inflection, they are attempting to communicate with you although the content/context may not be appropriate. When your child repeats what he hears clearly, it is almost as if he is given 'the answers to the test' meaning, he is merely rehearsing what was someone else's thoughts were and the phrases that are repeated are clearly a pattern of articulation and inflection that have already been layed out for him. When your child's utterances consist of babbling or jargon that can be unintelligible at times, he is simply attempting to organize his own thoughts and verbalize through practicing these complicated motor speech processes.

Echolalia does serve a purpose in the developing language skills of children with autism. It is important that you find a good therapist that can help direct his language learning and guide him through the next developmentally appropriate stage.

I hope this helped in some small way?
Nancy