echolalia

Do you experience it? What is it like for you? Sometimes I get phrases stuck in my head and I have to keep repeating them, it feels good and saying them again and again and again and again feels right, and also sometimes there are phrases or song lyrics that I say AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN. It feels important to do so. Like right now.

Maybe if anyone does want to repeat-say things we can do it here? This could be a space for it because people would think it's weird to do it out of the blue otherwise.

You know, I was actually thinking about echolalia yesterday. Specifically, delayed echolalia. Sometimes I wonder if I experience it or if I just like quoting things. I mostly quote things from movies (and for some reason it's almost always from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) but sometimes I also quote other phrases or words. I'm not completely sure why I do it but I have come up with two reasons why I might quote things repeatedly:

1. Sometimes I feel a lot of emotions I can't really define. In those situations all I know is that I don't feel well at all and that I'm probably anxious. To calm myself down I repeat phrases from Harry Potter (mostly) or something.

2. Sometimes I just repeat phrases because I like saying things repetitively. Not sure why.

I've always had a fascination with the consonant sounds p (in a lesser degree, b as well) and k (and hard g like in "goat"). So when I'm reading something, I tend to pronounce all the words with those sounds under my breath so no one can really hear me. And then usually the last word with one or both of those sounds gets repeated for a while, but never so that other people can hear me.

I also type into the air, something I started when I learned business keyboarding in 6th grade, and it's usually the last phrase or sentence someone said to me. Sometimes it's while they're still saying it. I also type out the lyrics to songs in the middle of worship. Can that be considered echolalia too?

I repeat things often! I haven't noticed any sort of pattern like the others, there don't seem to be any particular letters/phrases etc, and it doesn't seem to happen only when I'm anxious. It's just something I've always done since my childhood and it's never stopped, I've just gotten better at doing it more quietly so people don't always hear me.

Sometimes I just like the way a word sounds I guess and it'll get stuck in my head and I feel like I need to keep saying it over and over again because it just feels right.

There are times where I'll be having a face to face (well, in person, not so much face to face) conversation with somebody and I'll get hooked on a word or phrase they've said. It takes a lot of effort not to just start blurting it out whilst they're still talking, and I don't always succeed.

I do something similar but for me it might be that a word didn't sound right when I said it so I say it quietly over and over again until it feels right.

I do both of those things! Repeating words because they're not quite right, or because they're so right I want to keep saying them. Sometimes it's frustrating to get stuck on a thought like that, but usually it's kind of fun.

I do the typing thing too sometimes! I also type phrases (like passwords or usernames) into the air sometimes when my hands are idle. I don't know what counts specifically "as echolalia" or "not as echolalia" but it feels similar to the repeating words thing to me so it definitely could be.

You know, I'd never noticed myself do this until last night. I was watching something on TV and somebody pronounced query as though it had an 'a' instead of an 'e' and I sat there saying it over and over again for a good ten minutes. If it hadn't been for the discussion in this thread I wouldn't have even really noticed.

I wonder how we would differentiate echolalia
from echoing what the person last said in a
conversation.
Also, is it normal or good to use echoing like
I just described as a way of inviting the speaker
to continue with what he/she was saying?

Every time my room mate and I go into the grocery store I have to say "no chicken noodle soup" because that's the name of one of their soups, and it sounds to me like it shall be called chicken less noodle soup, the former indicates an empty can.
I also repeat certain things if they seem funny to me, or especially if they have been said incorrectly (because that's hilarious)

I repeat songs, parts of what someone has just said, lines from TV, and parts of what someone said in the past. Sometimes I only repeat parts of songs, but I sing those parts.

sometimes i just say stuff over and over when by myself like a sort of chant and talk to myself constantly like hours every day is that sort of what your describing

What sorts of things do you say to yourself?

Just random stuff, mostly singing to myself and things like that

I sometimes repeat sentences other people say but deliberately change the order of the words in the sentence. I did it just now before writing this. My boyfriend said "don't make fun of me" and I straight away said "make of fun me don't". It mostly happens around people I'm relatively comfortable with and I'm not sure why I do it but I like it.

What do you think? Is it some kind of echolalia?

Yes. Its exactly echolalia, and is quite common in all along the autistic spectrum.

When you do it with vocalizations that you yourself have made its called palilalia.

What do you mean? The thing with palilalia that is.

Is it still echolalia if I most of the time choose to repeat sentences (but change the order of the words) and is it still echolalia if it only happens around certain people?

EDIT: Oh, do you mean that if I say something and then repeat it it's palilalia?

Yes. Echolalia means you repeat other people. If it happens relatively immediately its called Immediate Echolalia, and otherwise, Delayed Echolalia. (or Triggered when it happens in response to some sensory input.) (and Yes and Yes to your questions.)

Palilalia is indeed when you say something, and then repeat it. Its usually immediate. It can be "triggered". It is less frequently delayed.

Oh, yes I do this! Movie lines, or phrases or words that sounded good. I like to say long, foreign surnames because they are very satisfying to articulate. Or repeat jingles from commercials. I used to annoy friends by repeated phrases from movies, over and over again. Sometimes I hear a sound and imitate it over and over ( quietly if in public of course).

"Das Es, Das Ich, Das Uber Ich!" one of my favorites... and is related to Freud.

My daughter repeats song lyrics, catch phrases from cartons, and punch lines. I have no idea why but it obviously makes her feel better to do so. She does the same phrase for months.

Some of my favorite foreign names to say out loud repeatedly include Barishnikov, Shostakovich, and Zeppenfeld.

they sound russian to me

1 of the forign names i like saying out loud is yolanda

it's pollish

Yeah foreign names are cool!

Yeah, it wasnt until a few months ago that i realized that what was happening was called "echolalia" though.
phrases, tunes, a sentence from a song will be stuck in my mind on repeat. some things im not even sure what its from, like "its ah sauhnaah in here!" (sauna).
and i used to say "thats what she said" after everything that i thought was funny- because my friend would say that to me a lot and it didnt make sense because i wasnt talking about "she", and after saying "thats what she said" she would laugh and everyone else would and sometimes add a "good one!" to her "thats what she said". it wasnt until later when i had repeated it for awhile that it finally clicked and an i was like "thats what she said!! lol!- ohhhhhh!!! .... now i get it!"
and songs are the worst. sometimes just a tiny 3 second music tune will be the thing stuck in my head...
also, i have a really embarrassing time when some says something and a response from me is common, and i end up repeating the same thing they just said, and it comes out before i catch it. like
person: hi how are you?
me: how are you?- i mean! im... good, you?
and it happens more often when theres a A and B convo that requires a response from me... thats when others notice it. but also they tend to think that just because its not showing on the outside, that its not something i struggle with. sometimes though, i will say something that pops into my head from a reaction to what another person has said or pointed out.. like when a dog was barking at someone walking by his car i just blurted out "stranger danger! stranger danger!" all high pitched kind of thing.(atleast i think it was high pitched... i dont know if "high pitched" really explains it). but it was one of those moments that others find funny that it seems to have a outwardly positive reaction with others. ....