How to Treat Echolalia in Autism

Many parents of autistic children will be well versed with the issues of Echolalia; they are the things that they deal with on a daily basis and many, many times each day They can be exhausting, frustrating and repetitive for all involved, both adult and child alike. Echolalia refers of course to those repetitive behaviors that can be very common in children on the spectrum, and they take many different forms.

Dr. Jennifer Charles, BCBA, recommends applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) as a way of helping both child and parent with how to treat Echolalia in Autism. ABA is the science that deals with the molding human behaviors and have been proved to produce good results in cases with selected patients on the spectrum.

Your Child is not deaf

Many parents of children with autism are guilty of the same behaviors, behaviors that do not help their child. There is little to be gained by repeating yourself constantly, in fact, there is more to be gained by not doing so. The more you issue the same instructions to your child, the more they will expect this from you in order to do whatever it is you have asked them to do. It is also highly likely that the more you get into this pattern of behavior, the more you will continue to do it.

You don’t need to raise your voice to get your autistic child to listen, as they are not deaf. All this will do is make you frustrated and your child used to hear your raised voice. Instructions should be given clearly and at the appropriate level. The instructions might be more specific and detailed but eventually, the results will be the same.

Negative Behaviors

There is a saying “pick your battles” and this certainly applies to the negative behaviors you might face from your autistic child.

“Some echolalia behaviors are annoying, maybe even disruptive, but they are necessary to your child” reveals Dr. Charles.

“Things like tapping feet, drumming fingers or humming behaviors form part of your child’s coping mechanism.”
However, negative behaviors that involve aggression, either against others or self-are behaviors that should be dealt with. Making excuses for these behaviors will never help your child, dealing with them and redirecting them can only serve to help your autistic child understand what is appropriate.

Professional help

Getting professional help for your autistic child can be a good decision but make sure you find the right sort of help. As your child grows their needs will change, a child who needed a therapist to help with speech when they are younger will need something more as they mature. Take your cues from your child, if your child is showing reluctance to visit a therapist who they previously were happy to see then ask yourself why. There is a good chance they have grown beyond the help they can get from that therapist. Likewise, a conventional doctor may not see the bigger picture. After all, not every symptom that an autistic child has should be attributed to their autism; sometimes they can be completely separate issues and need treating as such.