Echolalia in nearly 4 year old boy

[Heartofstrings]

Anyone experienced this? It's almost constant with my 3 year old.

For example, "dinner is delicious" "delicious mummy" "let's tidy the toys" "tidy mummy"

His language is ok, he has good vocabulary and can communicate well. He is pretty immature for his age.

Can anyone give any suggestions?

Isn't that pretty normal?

Is it just one word or does he mimic entire speeches?

I did this until i was 8 years old! I didn't even realise i was and I definetely don't have any other signs of autism or anything. One day i just realised I was doing it and thought "huh, why am i doing that?" And stopped. I wouldn't be too worried especially at 3 years old

I read that it should be stopping around age 2. He is nearly 4. He sometimes mimics two or three words. But never more than that

My son had this and yes, he was diagnosed with ASD. But he's 6 and it disappeared around 4. In your case, I'd look into speech therapy, particularly group speech therapy which was wonderful for teaching my child to engage in dialogue and to listen better. It sort of took him out of his insular little self. Echolalia does NOT mean autism. It was a flag for my son who had lots of other bigger flags. But kids tend to go through this phase and my thinking is that they need more support with dialogue. A group setting with 2 or 3 other children can help. His nursery did this as well. Is there any chance you can talk to his nursery teacher for support in group chat sessions where the teacher or TA takes a small group of children who need more encouragement with their speech and language? You'd be amazed by how quickly kids jump hurdles.

@Heartofstrings

I read that it should be stopping around age 2. He is nearly 4. He sometimes mimics two or three words. But never more than that

Does he speak properly otherwise? Can he articulate why he's repeating if asked? Does he respond to being pulled up on it?

Also at 3 and going by your examples, I really wouldn't worry. It sounds like he's just reinforcing learned vocabulary, which is how we learn to speak really!

I am glad you asked, your situation sounds similar to what I went through a few years ago. The repetitive speech called echolalia is a stage of speech development. If it lasts longer than a certain age, you should seek help. Please know that echolalia can be used for speech generation and that there are two types of language learners. Read more here

www.musingsandreviews.com/blog/special-needs/two-primary-language-acquisition-styles/

Get yourself involved, don't give up. Sending you good wishes!