Echolalia

Role of SLP

-Lead educational teams. -Facilitate the generalization and maintenance of functional communication skills.

Principles for responding to echolalia

-create opportunities to initiate communication vs. the individual responding to prompts/questions -determine the function or reason for the echolalia to teach functional language taking the place of the echolalia -use low-constraint interactions: limit yes/no questions, wh- questions, and commands -avoid solely teaching a rote set of "functional" survival utterances: teach true symbolic language -practice language use with peers -teach quiet behaviors in the place of non-interactive echolalia or teach to say echolalic utterances quietly

Autism

Echolalia is most common in this disorder

Types of Echolalia

Immediate and delayed: correlated to the time that is between the first utterance and the repeated utterance

Functions of Echolalia

Interactive and Non-interactive

Non-Interactive Echolalia

Not purposeful messages for personal use -Immediate: non-focused, rehearsal, and self-regulatory (don't serve a communicative purpose) -Delayed: non-focused, situational association, and rehearsal (more self stimulatory)

Interactive Echolalia

Purposeful communicating to another person - a way to attempt to interact with another person (doesn't have language skills to come up with a novel response) -Immediate: turn taking, answer questions, requesting -Delayed: turn taking, providing information, labeling, protest, request, calling, affirmation, directive

Variables Associated with Higher Incidences of Echolalia

Situational variables: -Unstructured or unpredictable situations. -Transitions -Unfamiliar tasks or situations -Difficult or challenging tasks -Contexts that cause anxiety, fear, distress, and/or elation. -Stimuli that were presented in modalities in which the child is hypersensitive (e.g., audition, tactile, kinesthetic, vestibular, and/or visual) Interactional variables: -Complex linguistic input -High-constraint linguistic input -Partner's directive interaction style Person-specific variables: -Language comprehension difficulties -Gestalt style of language learning and use

Nonlinguistic vocalizations

Squeals, grunts, or crying which are not echolalia

Script Training

Targets delayed echolalia -Script training uses written out scripts with pictures to help teach a person what is an acceptable communication exchange for a situation -Scripts address a particular social situation -Prompts are gradually faded so the client has to provide more and more of the language of the script on his or her own

Cues-Pause-Point

Targets immediate echolalia Come up with 10 common questions- the cue card is the answer Steps: 1. Show cue card and have child say what is on the card 2.Pause and hold up index finger to indicate "quiet" 3. Ask question - pause - point to card and ask what is on it 4. Praise and acknowledge correct reply

Echolalia

The socially awkward or inappropriate verbatim repetition of part or all of a previously spoken utterance.

Gestalt language development

The style of language learning researchers believe children with Autism follow -Six stages of language development -typical language development progression for many people with ASD -begins with pure echolalia/gestalts

Gestalt

remembering and producing language as a whole unit that has one communicative intention: -word strings that are echoed verbatim -comprehended as a whole message, not individual units -not altered for specific situations

Immediate echolalia

repeated utterance occurs a few seconds or almost immediately after the initial utterance

Palolalia

repeating oneself in a quiet voice or different tone (ex. Brick from the middle)

Delayed Echolalia

the repetition of an utterance occurs more than 2 conversational turns after the initial utterance (more difficult to recognize)

Echolalia may also be present in these disorders

tourette's, aphasia, schizophrenia, dementia, cataconia, epilepsy, stroke, language impairments