Echolalia and Speech Development

[Guest guest]

Echolalia can be considered " bad " because language is not used appropriately

but it is also " good " because you can use the echolalia to teach appropriate

use of language.

It is very important to use transfer trials and fade your verbal prompt

immediately when a child is echoic.

Many kids have difficulty with yes/no. You have already given an object a

name, and now you are asking them to say something other than the name.

Teaching procedures can also inhibit the learning of this skill. I wait a

long time before introducing this skill as a program. The child would

definitely be an intermediate learner. Here are the teaching procedures I

use:

ABLLS: F9 - Requesting with Yes/No

Sd - Do you want this?

Sr - Yes/No

Have a set of items that the student would ALWAYS say yes to and a set of

items that the student would ALWAYS say no to. Present the items in random

order and mixed with trials from other programs. When you present the item,

ask " Do you want this? " and IMMEDIATELY prompt the correct answer. Do a

transfer trial. Provide reinforcement of the yes answer by giving the item

presented. Reinforce the no answer by removing the item presented and

giving a known reinforcing item.

Do NOT prompt by saying, " Do you want this? yes or no? " .

I also work on one word requests for a very long time. I like to see kids

have over 40 different mands, including actions and missing items, that they

can use spontaneously and without the item present.\

Hope this helps,

e

<http://www.autismbehaviorconsult.com/> Everyone Can

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e Quinby, M.Ed.

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[ ] Echolalia and Speech Development

My 5.5 year old son recently began to show a big increase in his echolalia.

He will repeat most of what you say to him. Previously he would just say

the

last word or nothing.

His spontaneous language is comprised of single word requests. He has about

50 words. He communicates spontaneously by saying, toast, car, swing, run,

up, bed, open door, TV, fries, walk, etc. He struggles with yes/no.

My speech therapist says the echolalia is bad since it shows he doesn't know

how to use language interactively. She also feels his one word requests

should have evolved to two word requests by now.

I was actually pleased with the echolalia since he is talking more, seems

more motivated than ever and his articulation is not that bad. Do you think

the

echolalia will evolve to interactive speech? Isn't any progress good? Any

thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Guest guest]

,

I think your son's echolalia is fantastic. One, it shows he is

struggling less to produce speech sounds. That in and of it self is

something to cheer. Also, even if the echolalia doesn't always make

sense, it may serve a purpose for him to connect to you, and share

language with you. He may be trying for reciprocity in that he wants

to share making noise with you. Without a mature understanding of what

the words mean, has to settle for the sounds. When he understands the

meaning of the sounds, he won't need echolalia anymore and won't use

it. I'll give you two examples that were stepping stones on Evy's

(6) progress toward recovery. First, Evy would use delayed echolalia

quite a bit. He would repeat phrases in times of stress that made no

sense (bits of Bob the Builder video dialogue), but told us that he was

stressed. So that was communicative, and we responded appropriately.

He also would sing bits of tunes that carried emotions to which he did

not understand the words. For instance, he sang lullabies to us when

he wanted affection or to show love. He also sang sad songs when he

was sad. It was SO important to reward the intent of the speech, not

just always try to shape and correct it. Now he tells me in the

most beautiful words that he loves me, or is happy or sad or " just SO

out of control. "

Echolalia is a very common phase in autistic development and MANY MANY

MANY studies have shown that it goes away as comprehension improves.

Is your son HAPPY to be able to now repeat phrases easily? Is he

sharing that joy with you?? Isn't that shared pleasure one of the

things we want to foster? The nice thing to remember about working

with our learners is that language is learned and finessed over a

lifetime. Lots of autistic learners gain many language skills in their

elementary school years. Always take time to share enjoyment of new

skills, even if they are not expressed perfectly. When his ability to

repeat long phrases becomes second nature (e.g. you are sure you aren't

going to extinguish it by over shaping it right now), gently but

insistently expect a LITTLE more. You will be able to read his

tolerance for moving on as his mom. Your instincts rebelled against

the negative view your SLP expressed. Trust them.

t Burk

juliet@...

www.autismteachingtools.com

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