Echolalia

Ech-o-la-li-a:
1. Psychiatry The involuntary and immedate repetition of words or phrases just spoken by others, often a symptom of autism or schizophrenia.
2. An infants repetition of the sounds made by others, a normal occurance in childhood development.

Ryan's first speech was all echolalic. He repeated songs, phrases but more often, movies. He could repeat whole dialogs from movies after watching them one or two times. But he couldn't tell me about what he'd eaten for breakfast or what he had done over the weekend. It was heartbreaking. He could speak physically, there was nothing wrong with his ability TO SPEAK but he couldn't have a "normal" conversation. He couldn't express himself. He couldn't ask me for something or tell me what he wanted. He had some functional language but he was basically unable to communicate.
That was 3 years ago.
Since we began intensive Speech and Occupational Therapy, Ryan has made such huge strides in his abilities to function. He can talk fairly well, but its at a much younger age level. He speaks more like a 3-5 year old than an almost 7 year old. But that's GREAT!! I love the way he's grown and changed in the past few years. He's a very sweet and caring boy, and loves expressing those feelings. But the echolalia is still there, though not nearly as much. I notice it the most right away in the morning. I haven't figured out yet what exactly is the trigger, but I'm assuming it's his way of collecting himself for the day. Some people shower, shave and drink coffee, some people read the newspaper and eat cereal, Ryan recites movies. This is actually one of the hardest things for me to deal with Ryan. I'm not sure why. It drives me absolutely NUTS. I HATE HATE HATE it. I don't know why...
Perhaps I feel like it's a small step backwards in his language development. Perhaps its the fact that he still has to use the echolalia as a calming activity. Perhaps I'm just tired and extra cranky in the mornings. I notice that when he's worked up or agitated or he just can't find the words, he uses the echolalia. That doesn't bother me. Its the morning time that does. He is happy, rested, calm, ready to start the day. Then why does he NEED the echolalia?? I will probably never really know but its these little mysteries that make Autism so challenging.