Delayed Echolalia Scripting or What?WOw, everyone has offered some great info. A lot of what you describe, my daughter does. I think it is great that you are proactive in this. I have a daughter who will turn 3 next month. When she was around 2 yrs 4 mos, she was not using words to communicate even though she could verbally identify them when she felt like it. She has come a long way and can use language to communicate her wants in 2-4 word phrases. She started doing echolalia w/in a month or so of when she first used language to communicate. I often wonder if she was doing it earlier, but I just didn't understand it in Helon language. Also, I think that children can develop other characteristics of Autism as they get older. I have noticed that w/ my daughter. It isn't bad...we just accept it and adapt to it. We also do what you and others have done in that we try to keep her actively engaged in varios activities that she loves. Oh, something else about echolalia that we did was when she said it for no apparent reason, we would reenact the scene so she understand that a phrase fits a certain situation. My daughter likes to repeat the lines to Dora and Blues. THe funny thing is...she repeats the lines of all the characters to a certain scene (even the voice tones). Anyway, the reason why I do this is to try to get her to engage w/ me in a sort of imitation play. For instance, her fav episode is Quack Quack where a mommy lost her baby duck. If she she starts repeating the scene where they are searching for the duckling, I will get the mommy duck and baby duck that I bought and reenact the scene so that she and I can search for the baby duck together. Also, my daughter will repeat phrases at certain times, for instance my husband always cooks dinner. When it is ready, he will yell "Dinner is Ready!" If no one comes running into the kitchen immedicately, he will say "Okay, Let's Eat!" over and over again to indicate lets do this now. My daughter will yell this phrase everytime she is hungry and wants to eat, however she also uses this phrase to indicate the 'urgency' of when she is thirsty or wants to color. She will say "want to color?" If I don't immediately get up...she will say "Okay, Let's eat." Since I know she does not understand time (Now or Next), this phrase is the first step to her learning about time so I am going to use it. Even though she doesn't understand it, she does know to use it when she wants something right now. It is as if she has created her own language and we just have to learn it. We aren't going to try to correct her until she is a little more advanced in her language skills. You can use the echolalia to help develop the use of language in your toddler. Sorry so long... With her acting out certain scenes of favorite cartoons try turn taking letting her be one character and speaking the lines and you being another character. Make eye contact and have her interact. Show pictures of things that are typically seen an dlabel them... go through the homemade album of items (cup, bowl, plate, spoon, TV, bed and so on) and point to each and ask whats this? (pause to wait for answer) Its a (pause wait for answer ) CUP! Yes thats right a cup Praise their every effort HUGE clap jump up and down make it a HUGE deal! Hug them spin them around tell them GOOD WORDS or GREAT JOB using words. Do it consistently with each item EVERY single time you use it. REPETITION and CONSISTENCY will help! When they point to things and nothing is there say Yes ceiling. I see the ceiling? What do you like about the ceiling? DO you like that it is HIgh? Do you like that it is white? Do you like the fan? Ask questions they can give yes no answers to... it will help build receptive expressive language skills My son hasn't been dx'd either, so I can't give you much expert advice. But some things were similar. My son will be 2 this mth. He points to things all the time and usually there is nothing there (pointing to ceiling, i look up, I see nothing, etc). If I shine like a flashlight at him, he tries to grab at the light w/ his fingers and waves his fingers out in front of him. I can't say much about the echolia because my ds doesn't say almost anything but babbles. He is starting speech therapy tomorrow! My boy responds to his name, but only if he feels like it lol. I guess I'm saying he knows his name means him, but he likes to ignore me a lot. People try to tell me he's just being defiant, but I feel it's more than that. When you have to repeat his name over and over louder and louder, then clap your hands together loudly just to get his attention sometimes that just doesn't seem right. Only had to do that with my daughter if she was zoning out on her fav movie, which is normal we all do that sometimes. Does your son throw many tantrums? Does he ever hit himself or you when he's frustrated or upset? Those are some other things to consider. My son also loves to be upside down, and throws himself backwards all the time when we hold him. One thing my son does do regarding tv that just came to mind. Now keep in mind he only says about 5 real words. Well when the zoo pals babies commercial comes on (you know they sing that song and show dancing paper plates lol) my son sings along w/ no words until they say the word "babies." He says "babies" very clear. But he won't say it unless the commercial is on. Very weird. Welcome to the board! We all are here to help figure out the craziness that is our kids lol! Amber I posted here several months ago and I frequently lurk here and have appreciated all of the insights. BTW, Ms. Steeler fan and Stevie's Mom you guys (gals) are so knowledgable and helpful. Thanks. As far as this fued goes keep me out of it Anyway, my son is 2 1/2 and is not diagnosed, but is receiving EI from the state. We were told be a developmental ped and the OT, ST and DI that they don;'t think he's autistic (the DP was like "no way"). Regardless he does have some odd behaviors and I'm still very concerned (movements with hands and fingers, doesn't respond to name, no daddy, no socializing with peers), but he is starting to talk more and can label many objects. Also he's begining to ask for things that aren't around, i.e., juice, cookie, blanket, outside, etc). The last few months he's been repeating lines from videos, songs, etc for no apprent reason. He does this frequently and while it's easy to break him out of it he often goes right back to it. He seems to do it when he's not engaged or if he's bored. He doesn't do it at Gymboree or in his toddler/mommy class, but will do it during therapy if he gets bored or starts zoning out. Usaully blowuing in his face or tossing him in the air snaps him out of it. I usede to think it was just babbaling, but as his diction gets better, I recognize the songs or lines from his videos. Any thoughts?
BTW, I purchased the Bumble Bee videos and they jump started his language, I highle recomend them What you are describing was very typical behavior for my son when he was that age (he is 17 now and PDD) He would repeat verbatim later and in addition, during the video or tv show with which he was familiar, he would speak the words along with the characters and act out the motions - but in a weird way - if you know what I mean, like a little robot. If we attempted to interrupt him, he would lose it. Can you be more specific about "movements with hands and fingers?" I'm not any kind of expert, but I can tell you what my son did by comparison, if that is any help to you. Also, the first pediatrician I sent my son to told me to leave him alone, "he'll outgrow it." I'm sorry to say that all doctors are not created equal - some are good and some are bad... My theory is, Mom knows best. If you think something is wrong, it probably is. Hi NJ Dad... Your guy sounds just like my guy did at his age, he was actually dx at 29 mths, when at 24 mths I noticed, hey he doesn't really respond when I call his name, only really babbled, but knew his abc's numbers and some objects... My son was dx w/ Pdd/nos, I don't want to say that's what your guy has, but I think you should get him to be evaluated because if it is something else, then at least he could get some great services which would really help him excell...I mean my guy is now starting to be verbal, he will still sing O' MacDonald when he's upset instead of telling me what's wrong and cry, but we are getting there! LOL...I wish you all the luck in the world, keep us posted...btw my son also loved being rough housed and would get connected again once we did some, some quick advice, if you like...if you want him to say do some interacting w/ you like show you pictures in a book, and he's off, wrestle for a few minutes then go back to the task, it may help to stimulate him enough to complete it...it worked for my Nicholas...again best to you and your son! : ) Ali It's sounds as if it is delayed echolalia, my son has been doing this since he began speaking and what i do is when he's doing it, i'll try to make a conversation out of it, his latest is " maybe , it's stuck" so i'll ask what's stuck?, if i get no reply, i say" oh no i'm stuck" and i'll have my feet firmly planted on the floor and leaning forward as if my feet are stuck to the floor, that way i try to show him that his words have meaning.... I don't discourage the echolalia because he is infact using words , he just doesn't know in what context to use them. Thanks for the quick feedback! He is getting about 10 hours of therapy per week (2 ST, 2 OT and 5-6 ABA). The ABA seems to be a modified version compared to what I've read about. They feel he doesn't need the trials because he pick things up quick, but he doesn't seem to get the concept of if you do this you get a cookie, he just does it to finish the task. It's been sugested often that he is being defiant. I know from experience that he can do things, but if he doesn't feel like doing it he just won't. Regarding his hand movements, thery're just weird - staring at his fingers close up, pointing at nothing in particular. He does ask me to read to him and will point at objects in his books when asked. Frankly the whole thing is driving me nuts. PS: Sorry for the bad spelling, not my strong suit and having trouble downloading the checker. My son is exactly like that, he's impossible to test, i used to feel like "hey, he's not a seal or a puppy" but then i realized that it goes along with his disorder and yet some days, he's just being defiant. It's great that he has such a strong concept of spoken language(pointing at objects when asked) as far as the aba my son is rewarded with praise, they had all of this stuff for him ( it took him forever to eat i mini m&m!LOL) but they realized that he gets the same reward by just his therapist saying "awesome" and getting a high 5. i find it amazing that you're getting the aba without the diagnosis, NJ must have a great EI program. well, welcome to the board and if you need anything, ask away! Hey NJdad! Great news to hear your guy is becoming verbal! I agree this sounds like a form of echolalia which is a good thing because it is developing speech so don't discourage it.. Try to ask questions about what he is saying and interact with him. I also think the idea of wrestling with him (or any heavy loading type activity) when he is bored to get him to refocus and do therapy is a great idea.. I do the same with my son.. even bouncing on a small trampoline or therapy wall can help stimulate the receptors... I recently spoje with my son's therapists "boss' (Guess hes a psychologist? hes a "DR") because of some issues going on with him and the therapist is on vacation... He said try talking with my son WHILE he was bouncing on his therapy ball... said sometimes the kids can focus better and give you more response.... Good Luck and please let us know how things go. PS Im glad the site and people here have been able to offer some helpful support and advice... as far as the "fued" I Sincerely apologize and hope this issue will quickly be resolved. Nate's echolalia was one of the first things that we noticed. He picks up on tv, conversations, noises, anything really. He doesn't always use his to initiate conversation, sometimes it's just to calm himself, when he's happy or whatever. We've just integrated it into our conversations with him and like was suggested before if he starts quoting a movie or show, we take on the role of another character and then try to ad lib and get the imagination going...(can you tell from several of my posts that we're working on the imagination! ) Your SLT should have some other suggestions.
~Hollie Nicholas loves when we play or act out scenes from his video's ...he really gets it and its very appropriate, pretend play etc...I usually add some different stuff and try my best to maintain eye contact which isn't really difficult because he loves it and is so connected when we play these kinds of games... Good luck!! Ali |
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