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I worked with a guy who only talked in Terminator lines. "I'll be back." Every little car on the road was a clown car.
People thought he was doing impressions. He wasn't. He was talking to us.
If your kid talks in movie lines, cartoon lines, or commercials, there's a word for it: echolalia. Repeating words you heard somebody else say. Sometimes right away. Sometimes days or years later.
For a long time, the experts called it meaningless. Now the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association says a growing body of research shows it can do real jobs:
- Asking for something
- Saying no
- Naming what he sees
- Agreeing
- Taking a turn in a conversation
The words are borrowed. The meaning is his.
Crack the code. For one week, write it down: the line, when it happened, what came right before, what came right after. You'll see the same line show up in the same situation. That's not a quirk. That's a word.
Then answer the meaning, not the words. If "I'll be back" means "I'm going to the bathroom," say, "Okay, see you in a minute."
What not to do. Don't laugh it off, and don't let the family laugh at it. Don't say "talk normal." From where I stand, that's telling somebody to stop using the one way that's working for them right now.
If you can't figure out what she's saying and she's getting frustrated, talk to a speech-language pathologist. Ask them to look at what her echolalia is doing for her. You're not failing. You're getting her a translator.
I am with you.
Chris
This week's video
He Only Talked in Terminator Lines. He Made Perfect Sense.
What line does your kid use that only your family understands? Tell me in the comments on the video.