Ok...my second question of the day, I'm on a roll here, lol.
Why do some autistic children script? Is it a stim? Is it a way for them to use language that they can't otherwise use? Is it a form of echolalia? (spelling?)
I'm just wondering because my son does this all the time...he just walks around, quote after quote all day long...he sticks with a few of his favorites, like from a movie he is obsessed with at the time, but he also throws new ones in all the time...today it is the cookie crisp commercial!
It is usually, like I said, from something he likes, but he has lately been quoting the morning news casters names from the news I watch.
He isn't a big talker other than the scripting he does, so I usually just let him go, but I am wondering if I should be trying to do something for him while he is doing this...I can't seem to find any sort of pattern to it, he does it while he is playing or just walking around. Is this okay or should I be trying to stop it or control it?
Thanks all!
Scripting is also known as delayed echolalia. From your description, it sounds like he's doing it as a stim, but that doesn't necessarily mean you need to do anything about it.
You might be interested in this article about the functions of echolalia.
http://groups.msn.com/TheAutismHomePage/echolaliafacts.msnw
Echolalia can be used as functional communication, and the article includes a chart showing the phases that autistics can go through, where echolalia has most of the communication functions at first, and spontaneous language has most of the communication functions in the end. Autistics can stall out in any of the phases, so it's impossible to say how far your child will go, but if he starts using echolalia to communicate, it's far better than nothing! The list of functions might help you "translate" his intent when he uses echolalia.
Good luck with everything.
My sons language is about 90% what you are talking about. Although, he does talk quite a bit, and all of it is in context. So, in any given situaltion he will talk up a storm and to everyone present he has amazing vocabulary and all in context and pronunciated well, but to me, who knows what he watches and such, it is all scripting. Those are the times that everyone thinks that I am crazy for thinking he is ASD (never mind the experts who have confirmed ASD)Thanks for the article Norwaymom...it was very helpful, and somewhat enlightening! This could very well be his first step into understanding language.
I love hearing him do this sometimes because he can quote these huge words and statements, when most of the time in conversation I can only get a couple of words out of him...I just wasn't sure really why he did it...this article helped a lot!!
He doesn't do it a lot in response to someone talking to him, it's more just to himself...kind of like when a baby is babbling, only Mason's is entire commercials or movie scenes.
It is kind of strange that he has such a great memory for this (and also songs) because he has brain damage and the docs told me a long time ago that it could affect his memory. It's good to see they were wrong!
Thanks again.
PS. His Neuro told me that although he has some knowledge of language, he cannot see communication as a whole and cannot break apart these scripts into words and use them in new and different ways.