Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Echoing what I say - anyone deal with this?

Hey everybody,

DS-3 is very intelligent, but he was language delayed with few to no words until a word explosion at about 2.75 years (he just turned 3 this week, so this was just a few months ago). He went from a few words when encouraged to full 3-4 word sentences within 4 weeks. He actually had enough improvement that we went from looking into extra special ed help when he aged out of his current services to him graduating the program overall, just like that.

But now I'm wondering if we are having issues, if this is a tick of sorts or if this is just his way of showing his understanding of what I'm saying. Just about everything I tell him, he echos. If I say 'it's time to go to snack', he'll repeat 'go snack?' Or if I say, 'we have storytime today', he'll repeat 'storytime today?' He speaks in full sentences otherwise but this is a constant throughout the day.

Anyone else deal with this?

I'm fairly new to this idea that he is quite possibly gifted. He is showing abilities about a year to year and half older than he is, if that makes sense. I just can't tell if this is a quirk, an issue related to his previous language issues or his new way to process information back to me.

Could this be what you're seeing? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echolalia

Jolaine I was going to say Echolalia. With a history of speech delay and now echolalia plus signs of giftedness you might want to consider a careful evaluation for any developmental conditions that might be at play.

DS8 was similar - not a word until within a day or so of his second birthday (so, not super late) and started speaking by handing me alphabet blocks and naming the letters. He then progressed rapidly to full sentences (he made up for his previous lack of babbling ) A few months later he went through a phase that was very echolalia-like... so much so that I was googling it daily for about a week. He then outgrew it. He's 8 now, with pretty typical speech. Autism has been ruled out, although he does have a dx of ADHD, and interestingly, a language processing disorder.


This happened with DD10 She also spoke a bit late. She was just like her brother - not a word until 24 months. Since she was our first and we weren't sure what we were dealing with, we sought help and she was put in a Hanen program and seen by a speech pathologist. A month or so later, she was speaking full sentences. It was almost as if prior to that she was silently studying us, and then when she was ready, she decided to speak. No echolalia from her - definitely from her brother though.

Shoot, I was hoping you'd say I was worrying for nothing. CCN, I'm hoping that since your DS took a similar path that it will prove to be nothing. I might give it a few more weeks or so to see if it improves or disappears.

DS-3 was definitely in an observation phase for a long time. We could tell he was absorbing things, almost like he was taking everything in and processing it so much that he had no time to talk. He actually knew his letters shortly before 2 (would pick it out from a pile or on his computer programs), but couldn't verbalize them until way later. DH thinks he's just thrilled to be able to repeat us, so we'll see.

Thanks everyone!

It can be hard to know if there's an issue or not. However my DS has long since outgrown his echolalia phase.

Our school has been convinced that DS8 has autism, and it's taken me getting a "no" from five different professionals (the last being a psychiatrist who deals only in autism) for the school to let it go. He's quirky and has behaviours (sensory) that look like autism, but he simply doesn't meet the diagnostic criteria. He's just too high functioning, with very typical theory of mind.

Here's another thought - my DS has a piece of audio processing disorder (but not the full disorder): binaural integration imbalance. Basically it means that his brain listens more to his right ear than his left (he's had five "normal" hearing tests... his ears are great - it's his brain that's still working out the kinks). He was assessed shortly after he turned eight.

Audio processing can develop later in some kids. DS's BII should be fully resolved by the time he's around 12. Meanwhile, when he was little and echolalic, who knows what his brain was doing as far as audio processing goes. I'm just throwing theories out there when I suggest the Echolalia was related to audio processing, but who knows, really?

I'd keep an eye on it, but don't panic (it's good that you're so on top of it). He might just need time to develop through it.

DD toe-walked until VERY late (she was still doing this occasionally at 4-6yo), and also went through an echolalia-like phase.

It was very disconcerting. Anytime DD says something... er... odd, for lack of a better word, just... something that isn't in HER voice, if that makes sense...


I know to ask "Where did that come from?" Now, she's self-aware enough to tell me. Not so much when she was 2 or 3, though. She would use whole chunks of language (phrases, sentences, or even more) contextually-appropriately, but I could often identify where she got them from. (Books, TV shows, conversation, the radio, etc.)

I don't think that other people noticed it as much; even DH doesn't pick up on it the way that I do. I'm more sensitive to 'voice' in spoken and written communication than most people, though-- this has been quite a handy thing in ferreting out plagiarism over the years, I must say. Because she used them appropriately, it was like a super-charged version of language acquisition operating on the context model, not true echolalia.

It's possible that this behavior (which DD also did for a time) is more about "did I hear you correctly?" and not something else. This only made sense to me when DD was older and we realized just how impaired her hearing was when she was <2.5 yo and had basically continuous ear infections and congestion. No wonder she was using what in an adult would be considered "mirroring," and seeking confirmation that we were understanding one another!!

DD did the same thing about talking a little later than typical kids, but interestingly since then her enunciation has always been excellent--we had very little 'baby talk.' She also did the echolalia thing especially when she was 2-3, and would repeat the whole thing that was said to her, without changing the pronoun. She stopped that but now she does the palilalia (?) thing--repeating her words under her breath. I think she's just fine but you should be aware the echolalia is sometimes associated with the autism spectrum, and our DD has been diagnosed as having Asperger's/ high functioning autism. But IMO I wouldn't worry about your DS at this point if that's the only unusual thing you've noticed; as you say, he might just be processing how to communicate.

DD3.5 has been doing this type of delayed echolalia since 21 months old. However, like your dd, it was always intentional and contextually appropriate. She was always aware what she was doing and could tell even at 2, where the dialogue came from. I believe that this type of repetition helps with language acquisition and is nothing to worry about. Based on my research, echolalia that is involuntary and done without comprehension is something to worry about, but especially in children >5 yo.
Jolaine83, you can either wait to see if your ds outgrows this in the next 6 months. Or if you are really concerned, talk to the pediatrician. Hopefully it is just a phase.

My youngest DD also will often echo new vocab and phraseology, and repeats what she has heard in appropriate ways soon after hearing. She also asks really weird questions that she knows the answer too - I'll pick her up from daycare and she'll run over telling everyone she passes "It's my mummy, my mummy is here!" And then as we walk out holding hands she will say to me "Are you my mummy?" She verbalizes every thought she ever has (well it feels like every thought, though it probably isn't), often making quite simple statements, but its quite enchanting how she so clearly and simply describes her world in a non stop series of comments or questions. It seems to be part of her way of integrating and/or verifying everything.