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My son repeats to himself his own phrases

Sabrina

Sabrina

Gentle & brave earthling
I've noticed that lately my seven year old son repeats his own phrases to himself in a whisper. It's not with everything he says, but he does it at least once while he's talking to me.
It seems to me that he wants either to remember the phrase, or enjoy it more, or reflect about it more. Or maybe he's talking to an imaginary friend?

I'd like to know if that has happened to any of you, or to your kids. I haven't asked my son why he does that because I don't want him to be self aware or for him to realize that I can hear him.
Any other info or comment is well received also.
 
That sounds so endearing, to me.

In order to understand it, I have to think
of what I'd be doing, if I were repeating
what I was saying, to myself, quietly.

I'd be saying my own words to myself
because I wanted to evaluated the statement,
and to enjoy it again ....to prolong the experience,
and possibly to remember it/commit it to memory.

Does he ever repeat what other people say?
Have you seen him repeating himself to himself
when he is talking to other people?

If he doesn't repeat himself to excess, it seems
ok enough to me. Do words come easily to him?
 
Conjecturing here, but it seems it may be a pleasant, enjoyable, grounding stim. So to me, this seems positive. :)

Some autism professionals discourage "perseverative speech/echolalia." I strongly disagree. It can be a beautiful way to play with words, a successful way to hold words or phrases as comfort objects to manage anxiety, a valid way to communicate, and should be respected as self-management/self-expression.

What a beautiful testament to your bond with him, and his trust in you, that he quietly shares this around you.

I have something somewhat similar. It is routine phrases that automatically slip out in charged situations when I'm suddenly upset: "Danger, Will Robinson!" Heh.. even I find that one funny. ;)
 
I totally do this. I try to limit it to when I am talking to my wife or myself because I am self aware. I usually repeat myself when trying to word something just right. I will either repeat a perfectly worded statement to enjoy how perfect it is; or I will reword a statement until it is perfect.
 
Answers inside quote:
tree said:
That sounds so endearing, to me.

- To me too. :)

Does he ever repeat what other people say?

-No

Have you seen him repeating himself to himself
when he is talking to other people?
- Yes, while he talks to me.

Do words come easily to him?
-Very easily.
Click to expand...
 
Sabrina said:
It seems to me that he wants either to remember the phrase, or enjoy it more, or reflect about it more. Or maybe he's talking to an imaginary friend?
Click to expand...

I do it in my head now, but I do it to let the words sink in and to ground myself to the conversation at hand. I often find that my mind is somewhere else, or I'm so distracted that having a realtime conversation is confusing. Sometimes I'll do it to understand what is happening, like I'm watching the world and trying to make sense of it through replays.

However, now you mention it, remembering and re-examing the phrase are also valid things I would do.
 
This is my LIFE... I have to get words right or they get stuck when I get tired... I did quit saying them out loud mostly, cause it made people look at me funny... BUT it works better to say them out loud... Especially if its something i really enjoyed, or a word i get stuck on, or something just want to remember better.

I don't think he has anything wrong with him, but you are talking to a guy with an ASD bias sooo... : )

I just thought of that kid "Brick" is it "In the middle" (not sure)... I don't watch it much but he does that, I think its funny. It makes him Brick.
 
I do this but with outside language coming in. I'm usually not exactly "present" (unfortunately) so I will find myself repeating what I hear ALL THE TIME; like my unconscious is listening but my consciousness is so engrossed in my own thoughts that it's not until I repeat back what I heard to myself (song lyrics, instructions from my boss, a sentence from a book I am reading, etc.) that I ever hear anything but me.
So I guess that's kind of the opposite of your son... sorry
I guess it's true that no aspie is create equal. lol :)
 
Often rehearse in my head what I'm going to say. If I feel that the person didn't hear me or didn't respond, I'll repeat it again out loud or I'll whisper it to myself. Husband does the same thing, I often notice that he seems to be mouthing words after a conversation, but you can't hear them.
 
This is actually called palilalia, not echolalia. Palilalia is repeating your own words. I sort of do this. There are times I think of a word or phrase and I just like repeating the sounds to myself when I'm alone.
 
No harm in it. I used to talk a lot to myself at that age. I still tend to repeat phrases that I like, and sometimes I get a certain tune in my head and end up humming or whistling it. I doubt he's talking to an imaginary friend, although it's possible. I had some imaginary friends and a whole imaginary world! Yet I turned out fairly well adjusted, although I still work on imaginary maps and still stim (but nowadays only when unobserved)

Thank you for being so supportive of your son and not wanting to intrude on his thoughts unnecessarily.
 
I have done this my entire life (not just in my head, but quietly out loud). For me, palilalia (repeating your own words) is a way of validating and processing what was just said. Have been doing it for close to 50 years now. My 26 year old son (also on the spectrum) also does it.
 
I did this myself as a kid. I didn't speak until I was three and even then it was just repeating what I had heard over and over. When I did learn how to put words together and form my own sentences at five, I often repeated them. I was teaching myself how to speak and experimenting with these things called "words".

Warmheart said:
Some autism professionals discourage "perseverative speech/echolalia." I strongly disagree.
Click to expand...

If I had been discouraged, I probably never would have learned to speak. Repeating things is how I learned to speak. If I was discouraged, I probably would have grown up to be mute.
 
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I used to repeat words or phrases that other people used, either for practice to use myself later on or because I found them really interesting. I even did it with the dog and cat for a while. I remember being incredibly fascinated by the sound of cats purring, and once I mastered that noise I spent the next few months walking around purring to anyone or any creature I met. Just be glad he is only mimicking human words! :D

I have a younger cousin who was also 'sort of' diagnosed with autism a few years ago. They thought he had a form of tourettes all throughout his childhood, as he would talk to himself or copy phrases. But after going through treatment for that, the last therapist suggested it was more likely autism. He stopped doing it as he reached his late teens, as did I. Although I did find myself accidentally mimicking one of the engineers on my first proper IT job. I hadn't slept much and was nervous as the job was (I thought) far above my ability. He said something like 'hi, welcome to the team' and I just copied him without thinking! Fortunately they found it really funny and the guy wasn't offended at all! Major facepalm moment though!
 
Me and my "double whammy" stim. Likely talking to myself while pacing around my sofa in laps. No imaginary friends, just a way of getting lost in my own thoughts.

It's all good, I do it in private anyways. :p
 
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Jana Delaney said:
Possibly the most disturbing statement I have seen on this forum so far.
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I read your post just because @Fridgemagnetman made a comment, but you might be also disturbed by the fact that I don’t read posts from people that don’t bother to choose an avatar.

FYI, it’s not friendly to be new here and start posting about ‘being disturbed’.
 
I spend a lot of time posting about how good self-awareness can be as an adult. However the younger you are, the more complex and perhaps even problematic it can be.

I'd think that can't be an easy thing for any parent to approach their child without great thought.

I often wonder what my life might have been like in the 50s and 60s had I known. For better or worse, I'm honestly not sure. But medicine at the time didn't have the capability, despite all of Dr. Asperger's research of the 40s.
 
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