Stop me if you’ve heard this before but, whether discussing a trait like echolalia, autism itself or a mixture of the two, the autistic mind should never be underestimated! In fact, even when us spectrumites aren’t actively breaking boundaries and changing the game, our hidden brilliance is lying in wait, doing awesome things in subtle ways – as is the case with the autism echolalia development.
Don’t believe me? Well, to prove just how dang impressive our community is, today, I want to explore the world of autism echolalia and the secret language of autistics. So that, if you hear someone setting limitation of what to expect from an autistic person, you’ll know, and stop if you’ve heard this before, the autistic mind should never be underestimated!
What is Echolalia?
In short, echolalia is a symptom (not a condition) which 3 out of 4 autists will demonstrate in life. Echolalia falls into two categories: immediate and delayed, and is often characterized by repeating words or phrases with seemingly no reason, repeating words or phrases with seemingly no reason, repeating words or phrases with seemingly no reason (sorry, I couldn’t resist).
Immediate Echolalia is when an autistic person will repeat a phrase right after hearing it like a recording or like when my fiancé has stopped listening to me, caught the last sentence of what I said and thinks that if she says it again with the words ‘interesting’ at the end I won’t notice (I do).
Delayed Echolalia on the other hand, is when an autistic person will regurgitate something we have heard days/weeks/months ago. This may seem like we are just showing of our greater than average memory. However, like the previously mentioned immediate echolalia, delayed echolalia serves a much greater purpose.
Why Echolalia shows Autistic Brilliance
Autistic people learn from the top down. Call us overachievers, call us topsy-turvy but, for the sake of this article, I’m going to call it was it is: brilliant. Because when I say that ‘autistic people learn from the top down’ I mean that we quite literally will grasp a language by repeating entire sentences first and worry about the individual words later.
From the outside looking in, this may seem rather peculiar as gestalt language-processing style (as it so named) means we speak in phrases and not words. However, it can be easily translated through context e.g. if an autist says, ‘do you want some juice?’, we might not be offering you a refreshing beverage but asking for one ourselves, as we have come to associate this phrase with us receiving a drink.
This can quickly become confusing. For example, if an autistic person started quoting something from the radio – it may mean a range of different things including:
- They want to listen to the radio
- Something in the room reminds they of something they heard on the radio (i.e they’re making an observation)
- They might be fed up of whatever boring task they have been roped into and have made the association of hearing the radio with being in a car i.e. going home
This might be puzzling at first, but this is the secret language of many autistic people and it is a language which isn’t solely built for communicating…
Autism Echolalia and Mental Health Benefits
Although ‘sticks and stones’ suggests that ‘words will never hurt’, past studies of echolalia and autism have shown that, in many cases, they may heal. This is because, like some kind of misery battling boomerang, the phrases we have come to obsess over can be deployed voluntarily or involuntarily during times of strain; helping to relieve stress, fear and anxiety.
This was something my family often saw when I was younger, as I would constantly ask the question ‘what is 1+1?’, the moment I felt my stomach tightening. This wasn’t because I was obsessed with numbers though, it was because I knew every aspect of this phrase; I felt comfortable in its answer and it reminded me of the good times I had solving equations in school (okay, so maybe I was a little obsessed with numbers).
To me, this demonstrated what optimistic researchers suggest is an autist trying to tune out any bad information with the words we love. However, due to our understanding of echolalia and mental health still being debated, some, more negative psychologists, may say that these actions are evidence of an autistic person grasping on to the one phrase we are most familiar with whilst everything else shuts down.
Regardless of the reality though, this shows that, for the autistic person, these words and phrases which are belittled in most academic manuals as ‘meaningless’ are extremely significant to the autist using them (which I guess explains why the book containing the definition of these words isn’t just called a ‘tionary’).
Autism Echolalia Treatments
So, with all that considered, you may now be asking ‘what is the best course of action when a person with autism presents signs of echolalia?’ and the solution is simple: stay positive, have patience and be proud.
It wasn’t long ago when echolalia was viewed as a negative, as though our repeated speech was a sign that we were stuck in a loop. However, we now know that many autistic people who present with signs of echolalia will go on to develop stronger language skills later in life; after we slowly break down sentences and learn that each word has its own meaning.
One suggested step to speed up this process is to only use short statements when speaking to an echoing autist – as this allows us to grasp meanings faster, due to there being fewer words. Additionally, you may also want to avoid using questions during discussions, as these kinds of phrases are far more complicated, due to changes in cadence, tone of voice or how our pitch goes naturally higher when we finish a sentence with a request: you know what I mean?
That said, there have been reports of autistic people with echolalia becoming mute after a life of being ignored and misunderstood. This just gives you more reason to listen to autists with this symptom. Remember, echolalia isn’t nonsense, it’s us trying to run before we can walk and, while you are free to say what you want about the challenges this presents, I believe it’s just another example of how, and stop me if you’ve heard this before, the autistic mind should never be underestimated.
Carry on the Conversation:
Are there any words which you love or, alternatively, can’t stand? Let me know in the comments below. And, if you would like to learn more about the importance of repetitive behaviours, then why not check out this article on: Autism, Routine & Structure?
As always, I can also be found on Twitter @AutismRevised and via my email: AutisticandUnapologetic@gmail.com.
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Thank you for reading and I will see you next Saturday for more thoughts from across the spectrum.
