Echolalia in children: symptoms, causes, treatment

Echolalia in children - a certain verbal behavior, which can be a stage of development or a serious pathology. It is characterized by the fact that the child repeats the words and sounds heard. Often this is only a certain stage that passes every child. The children with autism have a very well developed memory, so they remember everything very quickly. At them speech formation passes more difficultly.

What is echolalia

Echolalia in children - automatic repetition of other words, phrases or even whole sentences by the child. Quite often this period of speech development is taken for signs of autism, which is also not ruled out. However, this can be the norm of the child's speech.

There are several stages in the development of speech skills in the child, namely from 6 months to 1 year, and from 3 to 4 years. At this age, every child begins to actively repeat all the words he has heard, and this is quite normal. This allows you to improve the pronunciation of individual words and sounds, as well as lay the basis for interaction with other people.

Immediate echolalia

Immediate echolalia in children implies an immediate repetition of words immediately after another person or any other source of sound. This indicates that the child has correctly heard the spoken words, is able to memorize and reproduce them, however, to understand what has been said, it will take some time. Reflection can occur for several months in healthy children or take years if there are autistic disorders.

There are a number of techniques that contribute to a much faster understanding of spoken words or phrases. To speed up the result and fix it, you can apply visual, olfactory or tactile reinforcement.

Delayed echolalia

Delayed echolalia implies the repetition of individual words or sentences after a while. And these phrases can be pronounced by children at any time and in any place. This is most common for children with autism.

Sensory echolalia in children implies that the child repeats the phrases that he once heard and with whom certain emotions are associated with him. It seems that they reproduce these fragments in the head, passing them through speech purely for themselves. This feature of the child becomes an independent entertainment for him, and this can greatly interfere with communication with other people. In this case, the adult should try to shift the attention of the child to another occupation or topic.

Staggered echolalia in children is a peculiar way of expressing one's mood. Phrases or words in this case are associated with certain emotions in children. Correct in this case will be recognition of his feelings.

In addition, this type of echolalia can be a unique way of processing information received per day. He can pronounce what he has heard throughout the day, arranging it in his head, and simultaneously sharing experiences with his parents.

Many believe that children do not have an understanding of what they are talking about, but this is completely different. Often, echolality is only a peculiar means of studying and applying speech. Often occurs echolalia in a child of 3 years, and then, acquiring the required skills, he begins to build proposals independently. Usually no additional correction is required.

Children with autism can not completely get rid of echolalia, but usually it does not interfere with the child at all. On the contrary, the repetition of other people's phrases indicates the ability of the baby to process the information received. In this case, echolalia serves to connect the child with the surrounding world.

Main reasons

This type of disorder should pass in a child under 4 years. If observed in older age, then this may indicate a serious disorder requiring immediate correction. There may be such reasons for echolality in children, as:

• Damage to the brain;
• autism;
• schizophrenia;
• Rett's syndrome ;
• Tourette's syndrome.

In this case, it is necessary to carry out treatment of the underlying disease, and echolalia will pass by itself.

Symptoms of echolalia

Symptoms of echolalia in children are quite pronounced, since they manifest themselves in the form of uncontrolled repetition of words or entire phrases emanating from any source of sound. Sometimes the source of citation can be even a book text.

It is worth remembering that the symptoms of echolalia in children largely depend on its kind. Immediate echolalia should not cause any concern, since it indicates the ability of the baby to perceive information, understand and reproduce speech. Delayed echolalia is considered an alarming sign, and it occurs in children with autism or other serious disorders of the nervous system.

Functions echolalia for the child

This pathology has many functions that, regardless of its type, very often overlap. The causes and symptoms of echolalia in children can be very different, it all depends on the specific child.

One of the functions can be simply filling the pause. Children well understand that the dialogue is built from replicas, but they do not have enough vocabulary to support the conversation. In this case, the child simply wants to attract attention and uses the phrases spoken in the hope of amazing and amazing the adult.

Some children express their consent in this way. They repeat the phrase they heard to confirm what they understood. With the development of speech, children initially learn to recognize sounds, then words and only then understand speech. That is why they try to name objects, combine various words among themselves and learn how to build sentences. The repetition of the words and phrases you hear may be due to the fact that the child does not have a rich vocabulary.

Children can repeat the same words or phrases to calm down and eliminate feelings of anxiety. Basically, this is typical for children with autism, who monotonously repeat the same phrase, which has an important emotional significance for them.

Also, the repetition of monotonous phrases helps the child stimulate themselves. Often it is difficult enough to determine what kind of psychological state the child is trying to provoke by repeating identical learned phrases.

When a child is just beginning to master speech, he can pronounce individual words or whole phrases in solitude to improve their pronunciation. Very many children from 6 to 12 months like this speech game. This is considered normal and does not require any correction at all. Children can repeat the various words they hear for fun, especially if they are new or, in their opinion, ridiculous.

Listening to the spoken words of their child, each parent can find in them a certain meaning. These are only a few of the most important factors for the baby, there may be others, and often they are combined.

Conducting diagnostics

If the child has 5 years of echolalia, then you should immediately consult a specialist for advice. In addition, violations can also occur in younger children, so it is necessary to watch your baby. If there are problems, you need to contact a psychologist or a psychoneurologist.

After talking with the child, the doctor will be able to establish whether his condition is the norm or the deviation of mental development. It may also require additional diagnostics with various tests.

To clarify the diagnosis and more careful study of the condition of a small patient, instrumental diagnostics is carried out, including procedures such as:

• ultrasonography;
• electroencephalogram;
• Magnetic resonance imaging;
• Audit of the hearing aid.

If the child has a delay in development during the course of the diagnosis, then specialized treatment is not carried out in this case, but it is necessary to follow all the recommendations of the specialist.

Treatment and correction

Many are interested in how to treat echolalia in a child and what means for this are best used. Drug therapy in this case is not practiced, as there are no such drugs, but correction of violations is possible.

There are many ways that the child can develop speech skills and adapt them according to accepted norms. Since there may be different causes and symptoms of echolalia in children, treatment is selected strictly individually, depending on the condition of the child and the degree of disturbances.

Parents need to control their pronunciation of words, their speech should be distinct and clearly audible, but without excessive emotionality and heightened tones. Emotional shocks and stressful situations are unacceptable. When asking something from a child, you need to formulate your question in such a way that the answer is unambiguous and clear. Parents should have patience, as the correction of echolalia in a child can take quite a long time. If you competently approach this issue, the baby will be able to get rid of repetitions very easily and will learn how to correctly build his suggestions.

It is much more difficult to get rid of echolalia by a child with autism, because he uses previously heard words or phrases to calm or, conversely, entertain. In this case, the competent work of a psychologist is required. If the cause of such violations is hidden in stress, then you need to find alternative ways to solve the problem. You can use the techniques of self-complacency and teach the child respiratory gymnastics or simply explain by an example what others expect of him.

If the reason lies in boredom or detachment, then you can try to switch the child's attention, asking him questions. If you can not distract the baby, you can give him beads, so he sorted them, or the ball. This will allow a little distraction and learn to concentrate.

A child with autism will also overcome the stage of echolalia over time, however this takes much longer. According to many experts, a very good result can be obtained if during the day the child will have a variety of activities. So the kid will more clearly repeat the heard phrases and much quicker will begin to formulate and express their feelings and desires on their own.

How to use echolalia for child development

Treatment of echolalia in children can be quite a long and time-consuming process. This is due to the fact that it arises for a variety of reasons, which is important to define and understand. Echolalia can be provoked by poor speech skills. In this case, you can use it to teach the child, as he will repeat all the words and phrases for adults. Over time, when the kid learns to understand the meaning of the words he says, this problem will go away on his own. Additionally, you can use pictures to teach your child, as this facilitates easier memorization and understanding of new words.

If a child uses echolalia to answer questions, you need to determine whether he knows how to respond to them. If he does not fully understand the meaning of the phrases, he can not normally react in the dialogue to the interlocutor's questions. In this case, the work of a specialist implies the development of the required skills.

Sometimes a child uses echolalia to express his request. In this case, he repeats the phrase, previously heard from the parents, without thinking about its meaning. Parents need to pronounce the correct version and ask the child to repeat it, so that this phrase is deposited in his memory.

What parents need to remember

Parents can help the child normalize the process of communication with peers. Experts recommend that parents never stop a baby with such a defect and do not interrupt his speech. Constantly pronouncing certain words, the child tries in such a way to attract attention and self-expression. It also helps to eliminate problems with speech. With such a child you need to constantly talk and support him, as this will help him overcome the feeling of anxiety, and he will learn to support the conversation much faster.

It is always necessary to pay attention to the phrases and words uttered by the child, even if it seems that they do not make any sense at all. This makes it possible to determine the presence of a deviation and to establish contact with the baby. It is necessary to take into account facial expressions, emotional state and intonation of the child. Parents are always important to maintain conversation, form new phrases, expand your baby's vocabulary. Classes should be daily, they need to be conducted in a calm, supportive environment. Given and following all the requirements of specialists, you can achieve a very good result and quickly teach the child an independent speech.