Echolalia: causes, symptoms and how to treat it

Have you ever heard an echo? You may hear this sound a lot when someone is speaking into the microphone. However, this condition can occur in children who have autism or certain health problems. This echo sound that is often heard is also known as echolalia. To be clearer about echolalia, consider the following review.

Echolalia is a mental illness, but it can occur in normal children

Echolalia is actually a part of child development, when your little one learns to speak. They tend to imitate the same words over and over. However, when the child is three to four years old, the echolalia will disappear because their ability to speak will improve.

If the echolalia does not go away in the child, this indicates a symptom of brain damage that causes him to hear the same sound over and over (echo).

People with this condition will usually find it difficult to communicate normally because they have to try hard to understand what other people say. They may tend to repeat someone's question rather than answer the question.

Echolalia that does not go away is generally owned by children with autism whose speech development is delayed. In some cases, people with Tourette's syndrome can also have this condition. Tourette's syndrome is a condition in which a person tends to speak uncontrollably, even screaming.

People with aphasia, dementia, traumatic brain injury, schizophrenia can also have echolalia.

Causes and symptoms of echolalia

Any damage or disturbance to the brain, such as an accident or disease in the brain, could be the cause of echolalia. This disorder can also appear in someone who is anxious and feels depressed.

The main symptom of echolalia is the repetition of words or sounds heard by the patient. This repetition can appear while the other person is talking or after the conversation is over. However, it can also appear within an hour or a day of hearing it.

Symptoms of echolalia that may occur in children include:

Looks frustrated when talking
Difficulty responding to conversations
Getting angry easily when asked or starting a conversation
Tend to repeat questions rather than answer questions

Common types of echolalia

There are two types of echolalia that a person generally experiences. However, both are very difficult to recognize until you or the doctor get to know the patient and know how the patient behaves when communicating. Types of echolalia include:

Functional (interactive) echolalia

People with interactive echolalia can still follow conversations with other people, even though the words spoken are often imperfect. Often times, even asking himself a question, even though he wanted to ask something. All the words that are spoken are likely the words he often hears.

Non-interactive echolalia

People with non-interactive echolalia often reveal something completely unrelated to the situation at hand. They also often repeat questions many times before answering them. They tend to trigger words when he is doing something.

How to deal with echolalia in children

If your little one has echolalia, don't be discouraged. Some methods that can help children deal with echolalia are:

Speech therapy. Echolalia patients will undergo speech therapy to learn to say what they think. This speaking exercise is called "point-pause-cue", that is, the therapist will ask a question, the child will be given a short time to respond to the question, then he must state the answer correctly.
Drug therapy. Echolalia symptoms will get worse when the child is stressed or anxious. Therefore, doctors will usually prescribe antidepressants or anti-anxiety drugs to make children calmer.
Home care. People around the patient can help improve the patient's ability to communicate. Parents may need to take training first to better understand how best to communicate with patients.