18/03/2025
Echolalia is such an important thing to talk about when it comes to Autism and early Autism diagnoses. In fact, it’s one of the *few* traits that will prompt me to make an Autism evaluation referral based off of just one thing. But there’s a bit of a caveat to that because NT babies can produce echolalia too!
🌟Here’s when I make Autism referrals-
1️⃣ Immediate echolalia is more than 50% of communication at any age
2️⃣ Immediate echolalia is regularly present after 2.5 years of age (ie occurs daily)
3️⃣ Delayed echolalia (scripting, gestalt language processing) occurs regularly after 3 years of age
4️⃣ A child over the age of 18 months primarily uses long scripts that do not fit context, making it difficult for adults to understand what they are speaking about
➡️ Note: is is super hard to give inflexible, blanket recommendations because all things will not be true for all kids. So these are guidelines I *usually* use (think like 95% of the time!)
Remember, an Autism evaluation will NOT change who your child is- they will be the same child regardless of a diagnosis on a piece of paper. But having a diagnosis, when appropriate, can be a game changer for families!
Have questions/comments? Let’s talk it out below!
