Echolalia advice please

[Worriedmum166]

Hi everyone,

Just a query about speech in a 2 and a half year old.
He has lots of words, no issues there, making, 2,3,4 word sentences e.g
'Want more juice mammy'
'The rabbit is driving the bus' (playing with his toys lol)
'Go in the red car mammy'
'Night night mammy, see you in the morning' (although i think it's a learnt phrase always in the right context)
'What do you want mammy?' Code for ask me what I want mammy, I'll ask him and he will tell me, e.g. I want a rice cake
Can do yes and no questions when he wants, instead of no usually just makes a gurny noise and will say OK often instead of yes.

My worry is immediate echolalia, he repeats the last words or word of most of what we say! I genuinely think this is how he learns but it doesn't seem to be slowing which I hoped it would at this age. His understanding of instructions is very good but if I asked what did he do today he literally would look at me blankly!
He's not very conversational, most would have been recently when he found a box of unopened sweets, brought them and says 'I found the chocolate' I told them it was stuck and asked what were we gonna do? 'Fix it, Where's the screwdriver?' Was the response.
Can answer very basic questions.
He can sing loads of songs, nursery rhymes etc and loves stories, fills in the blanks or even recites stories he likes.

Should I be concerned about the echolalia and the lack of conversational speech as such?

Just to add he has a big sister who's speech was exceptional and I can't help but think somethings not right! Maybe I'm overthinking and this is normal because she was so advanced. My head is scrambled at this point.
Any help appreciated, thanks x

Does SALT in your area do a drop in clinic? I would find out if they do and take him if possible, just to get some proper advice.

Is he at nursery? What is he like with other children? Does he have any repetitive or rigid behaviour? Has he had his 2 yr review?

I’m not an expert. I think echolalia is not exclusively an autistic trait but obviously many autistic children do use echolalia, mine did though he used his own language too.

Hard to remember exactly at 2.5 but at 3.5 the list I took to a SALT drop in included:

• Would answer questions but no back and forth conversation
• did not ask w questions, would do some in a roundabout way
• reversed pronouns, said you instead of I/me
• echolalia - mostly delayed I think but hard to remember exactly, he’s 9 now.

There were other concerns too though, it wasn’t just language.

@openupmyeagereyes thanks so much for your reply. No not at nursery, be starting in September, he's at home with me mostly, we've only recently started going to a group with other children once a week. Yeah he plays alongside them, looks at them, says the odd hello but that's about it for the 3 times we've been. He doesn't have any repetitive or rigid behaviour as such, and can easily move from one activity to the next, not stuck at anything. Doesn't line up toys, open/close anything, flicks the odd light switch but just wants to turn on the lights lol. Responds to his name etc. No sensory issues that I can tell of. He jumps when he's excited sometimes with a flap sometimes not, I don't think it's a stim but I'm possibly wrong.
He's had his review and it didn't go well, he was tired and in bad humour and wouldn't do anything for the HV just me, she wrote that he plays on his own terms and wants him assessed! So there is a possible chance he's showing signs now with the echoing.
He will ask what's that to things he doesn't know, and ask where things are but that's it at the moment. He's not too bad with his pronouns, 'I did it' 'you get it mammy' 'thats mine or my toy' me is the one he doesn't use yet.

I'm so confused and stressed right about the whole thing, watching his every move!
I can't imagine my little boy being 9 so I'm sure you've been on a journey too @openupmyeagereyes

Mine is 16 and was diagnosed at 10. It can be really difficult to know for sure when they're younger and everything ds did I passed off as his age, preschool had no concerns, school had no concerns - till he was nearly secondary age.

It's not unusual for children with ASD to learn speech by using echolalia but I would just watch and wait for now, he's still very young and is progressing well anyway. I'd just make a note of it, and anything else you notice that might be relevant in case if he is assessed one day as it is surprising how much you forget over time.

I think when he starts nursery things will start to become clearer. As he’s not your first you’re obviously more aware of typical behaviour so keep a list of anything you think is unusual. It could just be a phase that passes, he’s still very young.

@Choconut I think deep down I've a feeling that's what I'm doing, if I'm truly honest with myself, passing off little quirks as toddler behaviour, my husband doing his best to convince me thats what it is. Time will definitely tell and at the end of the day I want to do what's best for him.

@openupmyeagereyes that's it too, I've watched and assessed him that much myself I don't know if I can trust my own judgement anymore!

But yes I'm keeping a note of everything that I think is relevant for future use. Its hard waiting and watching as you both know I'm sure. Feels quite lonely when you're the only thinking these things and everyone saying I'm crazy, he's only 2 and a half! Thanks for your replies again, much appreciated.

Hi
My son is 4year 5 month but has issue with speech he repeat every thing we say e.g when I saidn "say thank you" he will say say thank you too instead of just saying thank you alone, he doesn't say mummy or daddy but I can send him to bring things for me and he will do , he can write even ahead of his class mates and when he want something he will push me to the place the thing is and place my hand on it give him. Please am confused

Johngr are you in the UK? Is your child at school yet?

Hi, you may want to google gestalt language processing/natural language acquisition.

@Worriedmum166 how's your lo one? Sounds very similar to my son, he's 2.5 months.

Hi had the echolalia stopped ? ☺️

Echolalia is a form of imitation, is a useful component of language acquisition. It is common in toddlers as they learn to speak. It will become less and less prominent as language skills develop. A disorder may be suspected if automatic speech imitation persists or reemerges after the age of three.