Do NT children ever use echolalia in their play?

[lottieandmia]

I have a 4 year old dd. Although, generally her development seems fine there are a few things about her which concern me, which I have posted about before.

Lately I have noticed that she seems to use scripted, word for word texts taken from TV programmes that she has watched. She uses them in an appropriate context with her toys. She does also play games without this but to me it seems a bit odd. There are a few other things as well.

I have an older dd who is 11 and she is quite severely autistic so presented differently at this age anyway.

My dd has CP but is cognitively unaffected and is always playing with her toys in this way - she's 5 yrs. I can hear all the phrases her teacher uses almost word for word in her role playing schools! I think it's how they learn.

My DS is 4 and until recently most of his speech was echolalia. He is now talking a bit more purposefully, but is still way behind most children his age. He has had a paediatric appointment, but the verdict was that he is developing normally in all other aspects. It's just his speech which is delayed. Waiting for speech and language therapy now!

Snap survivingspring Dd 4 NT (I think ) spends all of her time acting like teacher, her voice changes, she lines all her dolls and teddies up, but it seems to be the same thing every time (she can be hard to understand at times though). My eldest has AS so in all honesty I'm not too sure what would be typical.

It's entirely normal. Mine were reciting room on the broom by two, and even now (at 9, 11 and 13) they will still repeat vast chunks of films, books, and assorted media-provided scripting at will, in play, in conversation, or if something reminds of something else. It's just the stuff they quote that changes. Mine are still reciting Harry Potter, and will argue endlessly if they disagree about the intonation or slight inflection of a word.

It's exhausting, but there is absolutely nothing unusual about reciting film verbatim. Not odd at all, but if you aren't used to it, it can raise eyebrows.

Mine are all gifted, and only one of them has asd traits (one has cp, and the other is entirely nt).

My oddling Mogling repeats things verbatim and memorises great chunks of dialogues - she has a speech delay and flags for ASD, but DS who is NT according to all the professionals who see DD, does the same thing. Particularly from books and Meg and Mog videos, he will shout out phrases and not always appropriately either. Our therapist also says it's part of normal development.