This repetition or imitation of sounds, phrases, or words is called
ECHOLALIA AND PALILALIA. Echolalia is the repetition of words spoken by others, whereas palilalia is the automatic repetition of one's own words.
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. There's no meaning intended in echolalia — it's simply a mechanical echoing of sounds. Babies do this too, when they're learning to speak.
Palilalia (from the Greek πάλιν (pálin) meaning "again" and λαλιά (laliá) meaning "speech" or "to talk"), a complex tic, is a language disorder characterized by the involuntary repetition of syllables, words, or phrases.
Echolalia is often associated with ASD, but some individuals with ADHD may also engage in echolalia. The symptoms of ASD and ADHD are similar, which often makes diagnosis difficult. Additionally, some evidence notes that 50–70% of individuals with ASD also present with ADHD.
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.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): People with ADHD may talk excessively and interrupt frequently.
"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.)"
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.
People who are distressed by recurring, unwanted, and uncontrollable thoughts or who feel driven to repeat specific behaviors may have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The thoughts and behaviors that characterize OCD can interfere with daily life, but treatment can help people manage their symptoms.
Repeating entire conversations in your head is a type of rumination. It's how your mind attempts to self-soothe. The more you replay the details of a conversation, the more you may feel you can interpret what happened. You may also find that this helps you plan for a future outcome.
The person's repetitive questions may suggest both a need for information and an emotional need. Repeated stories often represent highly significant memories. The person may repeat themselves because they want to communicate and cannot find anything else to say.
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.
Over-talking often arises from social anxiety, which creates a troubling feedback loop. The more people talk, the more anxious they become about their social selves, and the more they talk. At that point, over-talking can feel like an uncontrollable habit.
Rambling and long-winded anecdotes could be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease, according to research that suggests subtle changes in speech style occur years before the more serious mental decline takes hold.
Echolalia may be made much worse when someone is feeling anxious or distressed, although some people can experience it all the time in more severe cases. Adults who have had a head trauma or who have severe amnesia may experience echolalia while they are learning how to speak and communicate again.
Obsessing and ruminating are often part of living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). No matter how hard you try to ignore them, those negative thoughts just keep coming back, replaying themselves in an infinite loop.
Echolalia as a whole is not a common symptom of ADHD, and it is not listed in the diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) for ADHD.
The short answer to your question is no. Echolalia is not only associated with Autism, but also with several other conditions, including congenital blindness, intellectual disability, developmental delay, language delay, Tourette's syndrome, schizophrenia and others.
Echolalia can be a problem if it continues in children older than 3. It can happen in children with autism spectrum disorders like Asperger's syndrome. They may need extra time to process the world around them and what people say to them. This causes them to copy or repeat the sounds or words they hear.
Developmental echolalia typically ends around three years old as your child learns to string words and phrases together on their own to communicate. However, if your child continues repeating words and phrases after the toddler years, it could signify that your child has autism.
The signs and symptoms of echolalia include rote repetition or imitation of words and phrases. Echolalia can be immediate, when an individual immediately repeats the speech of another individual, or delayed when an individual repeats another individual's speech after some time.
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.