Why is My Child Talking to Themselves? Exploring the Causes of Echolalia in Children with Autism
As parents, it can be daunting and disheartening to discover that your child has been diagnosed with autism. You may worry about how the diagnosis will affect them long-term or whether they will face any challenges in their everyday life. However, understanding key behaviours associated with autism can help you approach their care more proactively. For example, one concept often associated with autism is echolalia — a phenomenon where an individual repeats words or phrases heard from another person.
In this blog, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about echolalia in autism — what causes it and how ABA therapy can help your child.
What is echolalia?
Echolalia is a term used to describe the repetition of words or phrases spoken by others. This behaviour is often seen in individuals with autism spectrum disorder but can also occur in individuals with other developmental or neurological disorders.
There are two primary forms of echolalia — immediate echolalia and delayed echolalia.
Immediate echolalia
When your child repeats something immediately after they hear it, that’s immediate echolalia. Immediate echolalia is sometimes a way for the child to involve themselves in the conversation before they understand it.
Misunderstandings sometimes occur because others may think the child is answering a question when they merely repeat the last words they heard. For instance, the caregiver might ask, “Do you want to play outside or stay inside?”. The child may say “stay inside” and subsequently throw a tantrum because he merely repeated the last two words he heard (stay inside) when he preferred to play outside. Another example is when the caregiver asks, “how are you?” The child replies “, how are you”.
Immediate echolalia can indicate a desire to be included in the conversation and to learn and comprehend language. To increase the child’s understanding of the words used in conversation, it helps to have various visual and tactile support to accompany your words—for instance, gestures, picture cards, and other objects.
Delayed echolalia
Delayed echolalia is a repetitive speech pattern in which an individual repeats words, phrases, or sentences they have heard before, but not necessarily in response to immediate stimuli. This behaviour is commonly associated with autism, although it can also occur in individuals with other developmental or neurological disorders.
There are three main reasons for a child’s delayed echolalia.
Self-stimulation
Instead of using speech to interact and communicate with others, the child is speaking to entertain or stimulate themself. For instance, when the child is repeating phrases from a video they have previously watched, they are replaying the video in their head and entertaining themself with it. Although this might be harmless, it can impede and compete with real-life interactions.
Communicating a mood or an emotion
Sometimes, the child might remember an emotion they felt when a sentence was said and adopt it to express their feelings. For instance, if they had supposed happiness at the phrase “Come on, let’s have french fries for lunch”. Then, they might start uttering the exact word whenever they feel similarly happy. When the child does this, it helps them to re-frame his emotions by recognising his feelings and teaching him to express them so that it is context specific.
As a way for the child to process the events of the day
In some cases, a child might mimic what they heard throughout the day to process their experiences. Although it seems like a harmless activity, it is socially inappropriate. A helpful tip we often use is offering the child alternative and more socially-accepted ways to process the events–such as writing it down instead of saying it out loud or carrying a visual schedule around to help them process the events of the day or a behavioural chart to remind them that they should only direct verbal communication to someone and not engage in echolalia.
What causes echolalia in autism?
Interaction, and behaviour. One of the characteristic features of autism is echolalia, which is the repetition of words, phrases, or sentences that have been heard before. Echolalia is typical behaviour in children with autism, although it can also be observed in individuals with other developmental or neurological disorders.
While echolalia can be a helpful communication tool for some individuals with autism, it can also be a hindrance in certain situations. It can make it difficult for individuals to initiate conversations and communicate back and forth. It can also lead to misunderstandings, as repeated words or phrases are only sometimes relevant to the discussion.
Self-stimulation
Echolalia is typical behaviour in children with ASD, and it can serve various purposes, including as a form of self-stimulation. Self-stimulatory behaviour, or “stimming,” refers to repetitive behaviours that individuals with ASD engage in, often to regulate their sensory experiences or to provide comfort and familiarity in challenging situations. Stimming can include many other behaviours, such as flapping hands, spinning in circles, or repeating words or phrases.
Echolalia as a form of self-stimulation may provide children on the spectrum with comfort and familiarity, mainly when in new or challenging situations. It also helps them to regulate their emotions, as repetition of familiar words or phrases can have a calming effect. Further, echolalia may serve as a means of communication for autistic children, particularly those with limited verbal skills.
Prefabrication
Prefabrication, or the repetition of a previously heard word or phrase, is a type of echolalia common in children with autism. They use prefabrication to learn and process language. By repeating words and phrases that they have heard before, children with autism can reinforce their understanding of language and build their vocabulary.
Self-talk
For children on the spectrum, using memorised phrases or scripts can be a helpful communication and social interaction strategy. However, many children with autism struggle with language and communication and may find it hard to initiate conversations or express their thoughts and feelings.
Memorised phrases or scripts can provide a framework for social interaction, allowing children with autism to participate in conversations and social situations more easily. This can also help them to cope with complex problems or transitions by giving them a set of familiar phrases to rely on.
Self-talk
Excessive screen time or over-reliance on screens for communication could contribute to echolalia in some cases, significantly if it limits a child’s exposure to diverse language models or opportunities for interactive communication. However, it is essential to note that the causes of echolalia in children are complex and multifactorial.
For example, a child obsessed with a particular video or nursery rhyme watches it repeatedly. Even when they aren’t watching it, the video replays in their minds. The child repeats what is being replayed whenever this happens, regardless of context.
Obsession
Excessive screen time or over-reliance on screens for communication could contribute to echolalia in some cases, significantly if it limits a child’s exposure to diverse language models or opportunities for interactive communication. However, it is essential to note that the causes of echolalia in children are complex and multifactorial.
For example, a child obsessed with a particular video or nursery rhyme watches it repeatedly. Even when they aren’t watching it, the video replays in their minds. The child repeats what is being replayed whenever this happens, regardless of context.
How can you treat echolalia in a child with autism?
While echolalia can be a normal part of language development in young children, in some cases, it can interfere with social communication and limit the child’s ability to express themselves. The good news is that there are strategies you can take, along with your healthcare provider, to help treat your child’s echolalia.
Functional Communication Training
Functional Communication Training (FCT) involves teaching the child alternative ways to communicate their needs and wants, such as using pictures, symbols, or gestures, rather than relying on echolalia. This treatment option aims to replace echolalia with more appropriate communication better suited to the child’s needs.
Social Skills Training
Children with autism may struggle with social skills, contributing to echolalia. It focuses on teaching children with autism the necessary skills for successful social interaction, including conversation skills, understanding social cues, and perspective-taking. The method helps children by teaching conversation skills, training on recognising and responding appropriately to social cues, emphasising perspective-taking, and strengthening role-playing skills.
Speech Therapy
Speech therapy can be an effective intervention for children with autism who struggle with language and communication skills. Speech therapy can help children with autism develop their language and communication skills, including building vocabulary, understanding grammar and sentence structure, improving articulation, and developing fluency.
Visual Support
Visual support, such as picture schedules or visual cues, can help the child understand what is expected of them and reduce their reliance on echolalia. For children with autism, visual support can help them better understand what is expected of them and reduce their dependence on echolalia. For example, a visual cue may be a picture of a stop sign to help the child understand when to stop a specific behaviour. These can also teach new skills, such as social or self-help skills, or allow the child to remember and follow the rules and routines.
Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement is a common technique used in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) therapy to reduce unwanted behaviours and increase desired ones, including reducing echolalia in children with autism. For instance, praising and rewarding the child when they use appropriate communication can reinforce their positive behaviour and encourage them to continue using it.
Reduced screen time
Reducing screen time may be one approach that could be considered part of a comprehensive intervention plan for addressing echolalia in children. However, the effectiveness of reducing screen time as a standalone intervention for echolalia may vary depending on the underlying cause of echolalia and the individual needs and characteristics of the child.
The takeaway
Echolalia is a common struggle among children with autism that can interfere with their social interactions and overall quality of life. However, with the proper support and intervention, children with autism can learn to communicate more effectively and reduce their reliance on echolalia.
It’s important to note that echolalia can be complex, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to treating it. However, a multidisciplinary approach involving speech therapists, occupational therapists, and behavioural therapists can help to develop a customised treatment plan that meets the unique needs of the child with autism.
Suppose you are a parent or caregiver of a child with autism struggling with echolalia. In that case, various strategies and interventions may be helpful, including speech therapy, visual supports, and positive reinforcement through ABA therapy.
At AutismSTEP, we tailor a customised treatment plan that meets your child’s needs and goals. By working together and supporting one another, we can help children with autism thrive and reach their full potential.
To help you make an informed decision on the type of therapy your child needs, please schedule a consultation with us today, or call +65 6456 9950.
