Why Does My Child With Autism Echo Words and Phrases?

mom and son reading
mom and son reading. mom and son reading


Echolalia is a unique form of speech - and though it's thought of as a "symptom," it can also be a great place to start working with your child.

What does echolalia sound like?

Sometimes echolalia is immediate. For example, mom says "Johnny, do you want a drink?" and Johnny responds "You want a drink." In this case, Johnny is actually responding appropriately to mom's question, and may very well want a drink. But rather than using a novel phrase such as "yes please," or "I'd like lemonade," he is echoing her precise language. 

Just as often echolalia is delayed. A child hears a line on TV such as "got milk?" and later, when he's thirsty, may say "got milk?" in exactly the same tone and accent as the ad on TV.  Again, in this case, the child is using the memorized or repeated phrase in a functional manner -- he is asking for a drink, and his request is understood -- but he is not coming up with his own phraseology.

In both of these cases, the echolalia may sound strange or even rude - but in fact it's a method your child has developed for communicating his wants and needs, verbally.


In some cases, echolalia is less functional - but it's usually a good starting point for speech and/or play therapy. For example, a child might memorize entire segments of a favorite video, and recite them over and over.



Learn More About Autism Symptoms, Types of Autism and Autism Diagnosis


Schuler A.L. . Beyond echoplaylia: promoting language in children with autism.Autism. 2003 Dec;7(4):455-69.

Damico JS, Nelson RL. Interpreting problematic behavior: systematic compensatory adaptations as emergent phenomena in autism. Clin Linguist Phon. 2005 Jul-Aug;19(5):405-17.

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