This might be a little scattered because my 1.5 year old is about to wake up
My DD is four years old, and I still see a significant amount of what I think would be considered "functional delayed echolalia." I know that echolalia is a normal part of language development and that it peaks around age 30 months, but at what age should you stop seeing it? I've been trying to learn more about it.
My DD was diagnosed with SPD, but I'm concerned that there's more going on. She's always been very verbal, and she is capable of spontaneous conversation, but I feel like I hear more echolalic speech from her than from other kids her age. Sometimes it's incorporated into imaginative play, but not always. She also has an amazing rote memory.
The main red flags that I'm seeing are the echolalia, outbursts that seem to be a result of her SPD and some inflexibility around disrupting routines. When she was younger she engaged in some repetitive behaviors like lining up toys, but she doesn't really do that any more. She's also always required less sleep than other kids her age.
I've thought about the possibility of Asperger's or high-functioning autism, but the areas that throw me off are imaginative play (she engages very well) and social skills. She is very social and actively seeks out other kids to play with, but sometimes she seems quirkier than her peers.
I'm going to talk to her pedi about my concerns (again). I've also spoken with her preschool teacher who says that DD is very smart and gets along well with the other kids but the struggles with her sensory issues are very obvious. We're starting OT this week, and I'm really happy about that.
If your child was meeting milestones but you still felt like something was off, what made you push for more evaluations?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
Re: Can we talk about echolalia? And other concerns...
For us, the echolalia was a big part of what made me push for an eval. DD1 (ASD) was around 2.5 and a huge percentage of her speech was repetitive -- either immediate or delayed. I remember one day when we went 'round and 'round with me asking if she "was done on the potty, yes or no" and all I got was "yes or no, yes or no." We did that dozens of times with me trying to get an actual answer; at that point I knew something was off.
We still get a good deal of functional echolalia -- sometimes she's so good at it that even I don't catch on until she's said a new phrase a few times. Her vocal inflection is so much more animated that it's no longer glaringly obvious when she's imitating. She's made a ton of progress on that, but her pragmatic speech is often still stilted and quirky.
My DD tries to engage as well. She's not a loner, she just misses/doesn't process so many communication cues that it's hard for her to be successful. She tries to play with other kids, but doesn't "get" so much that it often just devolves if it's anything more complicated than taking turns chasing each other. She greets random strangers, and she likes introductions because it's such a predictable back-and-forth interaction with familiar language. I often have strangers tell me, "She's so friendly!"
I don't know if that helps. As far as pushing for more evals when you already have a dx, we got autism the first time around and haven't gone farther because it seems to be accurate. We have had one child psych tell us she thinks it is more of a non-verbal learning disability than autism. It's nice to hear, but having a different dx wouldn't change what we're doing in terms of service. And TBH, we have to pay OOP for private evals and probably will not do another until DD1 is around six.
DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
That's incredibly helpful--thank you! I'm currently trying to get her evaluated through the school system, and I'm going to talk to the pedi about seeing a developmental pediatrician. I just want to make sure I can articulate my concerns in a way that will be taken seriously.
Thanks for the advice I think if DD2 had been my first child some of DD1's quirks would have concerned me sooner. Ah well, hindsight...
VA has a separate evaluation process for kids age 3-5, and I'm pursuing that. Right now the pedi thinks she'll outgrow the sensory stuff, and the preschool teacher says she's on track, and we just need to get the sensory stuff under control. It helps to hear that other people had similar experiences--makes me feel a little less crazy.
Auntie, I went back and re-read my responses to you--I hope they didn't sound defensive. I'm making a list of the red flags that I'm seeing, so I can talk to the OT and the pedi about them. I really like my pedi, but I feel like she almost always sees DD in an environment that brings out her best qualities--she comes off as more typical than she really is.
Thanks so much to both of you for your responses!
My DD1 does the compliment thing, too. She loves getting that positive communication feedback.
Most of the time it's very appropriate, but sometimes she tries so hard it's funny. DH got her and DD2 dressed the other day while I was showering and sent them in as I got out so I could "see how pretty they are." I told DD1 that she looked very nice, and she thanked me and then said, "Mama, I like your towel!" Because that's all I was wearing, so it was the only thing for her to comment on to return the compliment!
DH and I cracked up.
DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
Awesome! I could definitely see my DD saying something like that, too--I think our girls would get along very well