Echolia

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Registered: 08-26-2005
Echolia
6
Sun, 11-27-2005 - 1:12am
Hi everyone,
Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving! I went to my DH's aunt for dinner and it worked out pretty well. Jake had a lot of fun and Ella warmed up to everyone after about 20 minutes and even tolerated a couple of hugs and kisses(LOL).I was wondering about echolia and if it is ever normal to repeat your own name.Did any of your NT kids do it? Ella has started to use it more, now before I even get to praise her for doing something she says" Well Done, Ella".Sometimes when I'm in the kitchen she'll come in to me and say"Hi, Ella". These are phrases I use with her all the time.The strange thing is I know she knows her self in a mirror because she points and says her name. Jake's speech therapist said all kids use echolia up to a certain point but I'm not sure most kids put there own names into a sentence. I've decided to wait until she is closer to her 2nd birthday to have her tested because I think I'd be told to wait and see again and I'm just not in the humour for hearing that right now. She's already getting PT and OT from E.I and I'm having them come in to assess her play skills so it's not like she won't be getting therapy in the mean time.To be honest, I just don't think I'm ready for someone to tell me another one of my kids is on the spectrum so soon after Jakes diagnosis. My DH is not dealing well with jakes diagnosis and is still in denial. His "he'll be fine" attitude is really starting to wear on my last nerve. Another question I had was, did all your kids hand flap and have toys or subjects they were obsessed with? Ella isn't doing either so I'm still trying to figure out if this is SID or PDD.The echolia makes me think PDD but who knows.
TIA,
Teresa
Avatar for cathby
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-16-2003
In reply to: baboig
Sun, 11-27-2005 - 9:28am

Hi Teresa,


I'm trying to remember how old Ella is?

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Registered: 10-03-2004
In reply to: baboig
Sun, 11-27-2005 - 10:39am

Hi Teresa,

Yup, the very young years can be difficult in this area because they are almost too young to tell unless the symptoms are very obvious, as they are in some kids. Malcolm had no symptoms that I can remember at that age, happy, charming baby, ate and slept and cooed and smiled. He had no older siblings so there was no "head's up" like you have. He had eye contact always and language, which had lots of echoing but was used appropriately, so noone was worried at all. He was close to 3 years old before the oddness of his actions made us worry, and even then it was really hard to tell. We were lucky in the fact of some language delay at that point to get lots and lots of early intervention, therapeutic preschool, home therapy SEITs, etc. We still didn't get ASD dx until he was 6, and esp. because even now (from the mouth of our expensive well-respected evaluator) he is considered borderline.

By the by, Malcolm did hand flap a little when excited, but has never had obsessions. And remember, the fact that your dd is using the echoing in appropriate places and usage is a very good sign, whether or not there is a PDD. Apply the therapies for the symptoms right away and, if possible, try not to spend too much time worrying about the dx. Will you have a long wait to get a thorough evaluation when you are ready? I might put her on a waiting list if necessary. That wasn't a problem for us, but for lots of people it is.

As many here will attest, having an older ASD child can make the worrying even more difficult, as you are comparing constantly. But each child with ASD is as unique as any 2 children can be, and ASD's can look completely different and usually do!!! Enjoy her as much as you can without worrying, these are prescious years. If there IS an ASD, you are already ahead of the game... And if there isn't. well, no worries, mate, a lovely thing.

Has your dh had the oppportunity to take your son out to the mall and then out to dinner in a restaurant without you? Just a thought about a possible quick way to open his eyes. How about letting him handle a doctor visit... OK, maybe too stressful for everyone, but maybe he can come along? Once my son was 3, noone would have thought nothing was wrong after viewing a doctor's or dentist's checkup LOL.

yours,

Sara
ilovemalcolm

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-24-2004
In reply to: baboig
Sun, 11-27-2005 - 1:57pm

Teresa,

Nathan didn't do alot of hand flapping, he mostly just likes to wave his arms around alot. He's constantly hitting the doorways and walls! He didn't really repeat his name. But he does and still does, repeat phrases that I have used with him. Like one morning he asked me, "how did you sleep lastnight?"...that about floored me!!! He remembers phrases and then uses them, and in the correct context too.

My dh had a hard time with Nathan's dx too. It took him about a year to actually start talking to me about him. He has finally changed how he interacts with Nathan. He takes his time with him, explaining things to him, and watching his temper! This has also helped his relationship with our older son too. Although, Nathan still prefers me, he has gotten closer to his dad.

This past summer, my dh got invited to a charity golf tournament. It was for autism. He had just started a couple months prior to open up more about Nathan. This tournament really opened his eyes. He met other families, who had children that were low functioning, children with multiple dx's. There was a dad there that made a speech, and this man just started to cry while he was addressing the crowd. I think it really touched my dh to be in a room filled with other dad's who were feeling the same as he was.

michelle

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-24-2004
In reply to: baboig
Sun, 11-27-2005 - 2:31pm

Teresa,

I forgot...one more thing! Obsessions. Nathan switches his obsessions alot. When he was younger though, he didn't really have any particular toy that he liked. I think he started choosing particular toys about the age of 4, and he's now 6 1/2. He does tend to like "collectible" type toys. Thomas, Star Wars, Monster trucks, Rescue Heroes, etc. But I remember when he was younger how hard it was to buy him things, especially for his birthday or xmas.....he just didn't seem all that interested. And he still likes "baby" type toys. He still goes down the baby aisle at the store. He likes some Fisher Price toys, Mr. Potato Head, Weebles.

michelle

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: baboig
Sun, 11-27-2005 - 4:02pm

Well, I don't know about in that small of a child. I would definitely check into it with a speech pathologist. I know that is a common error amung ASD kids who are older. Actually this particular error sounds more like a langauge processing and comprehension issue than straight echolalia. My kids both did that up to about 3 (maybe older with Cait, I don't remember). Kids learn language through copying and that sounds like what she is doing. however, I don't remember when a child gets a clear understanding of themselves vs. others and that is where this problem comes in. Many ASD kids will have problems with pronouns and understanding "I" vs "you", "me", etc. So they will refer to themselves by thier full name instead of "I" or "me", and they will also have a hard time understanding themselves vs. Others, so like jack being cued to say "hi mommy".

My kids all those things too when younger. They don't anymore, not by a long shot. But when they were little it was a skill that didn't come naturally and had to be taught.

On handflapping - my only real handflapper as a young toddler is my one NT. Man could she flap as a baby and toddler. Still some will when she is excited. However, Mike is my biggest actual stimmer by a long shot. When he flaps it is just qualitatively different. He does more a run around sound effects, moves things in front of his eyes kind of stuff. It is hard to explain. For example, he loves to throw sand in the air and watch it fall, and this weekend while camping kept trying to flap in the smoke to watch it do weird things. He does lots of different little stims but only handflaps when he is wearing one of his favorite shirts that falls on his wrists in such a way that he loves the feeling when he flaps his hands. Needless to say, I sometimes hide that shirt, lol.

Obsessions, Cait has a definite obsessive interest in animals. The stereotypic Aspie interest area. Mike tends to change interests but within the same genre. He has always loved legos and anything lego but will move in and out of it as obsession. His other one is TV, video games and movies. He will get into one of them and become the character from that thing. But again, he goes in and out of it. He also obsesses on routines. So once a routine is started you are hard pressed to break it. Has been this way forever.

Renee

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Registered: 01-10-2005
In reply to: baboig
Mon, 11-28-2005 - 2:14pm
My daughter is almost 4 and still exhibits
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