Echolalia is a psychiatric term that's used to describe what some people with mental disorders or autism tend to do, automatically repeat what they hear other people say.
Repeating people's words can be very important in building likability, comfort, and social connectedness. Psychologists are calling this the “echo effect.”
Repetition compulsion is the unconscious tendency of a person to repeat a traumatic event or its circumstances. This may take the form of symbolically or literally re-enacting the event, or putting oneself in situations where the event is likely to occur again.
Reinforcement encourages the repetition of a behaviour, or response, each time the stimulus that provoked the behaviour recurs. The behaviour becomes more automatic with each repetition. Some habits, however, may form on the basis of a single experience, particularly when emotions are involved.
Repetition is a persuasive technique often used by politicians, journalists, and advertisers – but why is it so effective? According to several psychological studies, repeating simple words and phrases can convince us that they are true, even if they aren't.
"I'm interested in what you say, but not when you repeat yourself." "(Name), I don't need to hear that again." "From now on, when you repeat yourself, I'm going to call you on it (or put my fingers in my ears.)" "I'm going to hold up a finger for each time you repeat yourself."
What you're describing is called Palilalia, which is when we repeat our own words to ourselves, usually although not always under our breath. This is usually thought of as a nervous tic. Many kids develop little nervous tics that come and then fade away, like minor stutters or eye twitches.
Palilalia is a rare speech disorder in which the speaker involuntarily repeats words, phrases, or sentences they have just spoken, often several times. The individual's speech typically decreases in audibility and often accelerates in speed with each iteration.
Individuals with ADHD may experience speech and language difficulties. These may include echolalia, or the repeating of words or phrases spoken by others.
Many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may repeat what they hear familiar people say or repeat lines from their favorite shows. When children repeat words, phrases, or sentences right after they hear them, this is called immediate echolalia.
Many children on the autism spectrum use echolalia, which means they repeat others' words or sentences. They might repeat the words of familiar people (parents, teachers), or they might repeat sentences from their favourite video. When children repeat words right after they hear them, it's known as immediate echolalia.
Echolalia and palilalia are not limited to autism; in fact, palilalia tends to be seen more in Tourette's syndrome, Parkinson's disease, and seizure disorders. Palilalia can even be a side effect of some drugs.
Someone with echolalia may only be able to repeat a question rather than answering it, for example if someone asked “do you want to go for a walk?” they may repeat “go for a walk”.
Controversy: Not everyone likes hearing things they disagree upon them. Perhaps this can be a reason for your frustration: you just disagree with the speaker, and him repeating the same thing reminds you of that conflict between you and them at least in the level of belief and opinion.
Compulsions are repetitive activities that you do to reduce the anxiety caused by the obsession. It could be something like repeatedly checking a door is locked, repeating a specific phrase in your head or checking how your body feels.
Echolalia is a normal part of speech and language development. It improves over the first two years of life. Pathological echolalia persists beyond the age of 3 years. Echolalia is a salient speech disturbance characteristically described in children with autism.
As with autism, no one really knows the cause of echolalia. If it develops as an adult it could be due to head trauma or severe amnesia and manifests itself when they are relearning their language skills. Some people, even those with autism, only experience the symptoms when they are anxious or extremely stressed.
Many people with autism spectrum disorder have unusual speech patterns. Monotonic, a sing-song voice, and machine-like are some of the ways in which atypical speech patterns in people with autism are described (Bonneh et al., 2011).
Signs of autism in young children include: not responding to their name. avoiding eye contact. not smiling when you smile at them.
Their speech may sound choppy or they may pause for long periods of time between words. Finally, another common speech pattern in toddlers with Asperger's is rapid speech. This means that they may speak quickly and run their words together. This can make it difficult for people to understand them.
The phenomenon of echolalia in autism and Asperger's syndrome1 has been well documented.
One of the hallmark features of an autism spectrum disorder is the presence of restrictive and repetitive behaviors (RRBs), interests, and activities. Individuals may engage in stereotyped and repetitive motor movements (e.g., hand flapping or lining up items) or speech (e.g., echolalia).
But beyond that, repetitive behaviors may offer these individuals a way to calm their anxiety, generate or maintain awareness of their bodies, focus their concentration or deal with overwhelming sensations or emotions. They may also help autistic people communicate their mental or emotional state to others.
Echolalia is not common in children with ADHD, but it can occur. One way it presents in people with ADHD is as a stim (self-stimulation behavior).