Echolalia

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Is echolalia something that those with AS can't control? Like you can't control when you repeat or mimic other people? Or is there control where you consciously decide when to copy others? I know that those with AS probably realize they are doing it, but can they help it?

its actualy more commonly used amongst those of us at any age with classic autism,and in terms of aspergers its more commonly used in child and teen hood; with aspies it becomes more hidden as adults.
echolalia isnt like OCD or tourettes, though some people on the spectrum repeat because of anxiety,it takes the focus off their anxiety,am not of the belief this is echolalia and is more anxiety driven ritualistic repetition.

am lower functioning and severely autistic,and am mainly non verbal every day but for part of the day am verbal- purely echolalic.
some years ago neurologists discovered through modern EEG that mine had an actual cause as part of the autism; the brain was turning speech off and limiting language.
it works a bit like a computer;when am verbal, the brain keeps accessing from the echolalic language folder;which only contains other peoples stock phrases and words,using the same example of a computer;HFAs and non autistic people have a 'vocabulary folder' however;and are able to form sentances from this; freely, HFAs are able to speak sentances with free speech though executive dysfunction is a common cause of echolalia in high functioning autistics because they need more time to process auditory information-the autistic brains defense mechanism is to echolalicaly repeat whatever is being said to them,high functioning autistics dont relie on echolalia to verbaly speak however unless they have schizophrenia which can cause echolalia to.

many classic and aspergan autists have echolalia because it is a form of sensory seeking as well,this is where may hear of people repeating lines from tv for example; or sounds,its very common for those of us who are non verbal to echolalicaly repeat sounds regulary because its sensory stimulation when there is otherwise no verbal input.

personaly speaking,am not aware of copying others-its just a blur of sound am hearing,its like being seperate from it or someone else is saying it.
am not aware of any words that am speaking because its all 'pre recorded' scripted speech,am regulary ranted at by two specific support staff who get offended by swear/rude words; mum has always been a bad swearer and all of her words and sayings with these in are in the speech of mine,have also picked up sayings from seeing these said often on forums,have been abused by these specific staff before because of how offended they have got, and have ended up having big incidents over it because am very confused and hurt for being ranted at when am unaware of what have said.
--this is what echolalia is like for self,it doesnt mean everyone else will see it the same way.

It's automatic for me, repeating one or two words just a few syllables multiple times, not for communication and not on purpose, just comes out, into the ears and out the mouth, directly.

For me, I'm repeating it because I'm contemplating the meaning. I repeat what someone says so that I can understand it. I'm not sure that I could stop myself. I'm only vaguely aware that I'm doing it at the time.

I have a tic disorder, both vocal and motor, vocal tics disappearing for days sometimes weeks. I have also done this as a child and even now I don't know when I'm doing it. It is most likely a tic.

I have a similar experience. If you tell me I'm echoing something, I'll know, but otherwise, I echo in peace.

If I repeat something you said right after you say it, then my echolalia is reflexive and automatic and part of processing -- I have about the same amount of control over it as I have over breathing (i.e. you can hold your breath if you pay attention to what you're doing, but you don't think about breathing before you do it -- I can cut myself off and repeat something only once, and/or trail off into a whisper at the end of what I'm echoing.)

If I repeat something I've heard a while ago as part of trying to communicate or simply to talk (my way of participating in conversations sometimes), then my echolalia is just like normal speech in terms of control and awareness...it's just different in terms of what meaning (if any) I attach to the words, and how I use them.



I'm a high functioning autistic, I don't have schizophrenia, and I still sometimes rely on echolalia as an adult..

I can't help repeating words I've heard from TV or from somebody else's mouth.

In my 1st grade report card a teacher wrote "she often repeats word heard from famous TV commercials or from a teacher".

Sometimes I also cannot help it, but most of the times it‘s just for fun. I especially love repeating phrases from tv series, most commonly from Star Trek (discovery), and other sci fi series.