Parrot Speech

In the world of neuroscience there is a condition known as Echolalia, also known as Parrot Speech.  This is a condition in which a person cannot stop themselves from repeating what they hear said around them.  Jazz has had this condition since birth.  She has gone through different stages with it, but it is one of her symptoms that has persisted over time.

When Jazz was learning to talk my brother and I discovered that we could play a very fun game that we called echo.  It turned out that this was the first glimpse we had into the extent of the brain damage Jazz has.  However, this was also our first glimpse into how we could use this damage in a positive way. 

We discovered that she would say random words that she heard other people saying around her.  Jake and I would then start the game by saying, "Echo."  We would wait for Jazz to repeat it.  This would begin a long stream of words that we would say one at a time and wait for her echo.  We could get her to say anything from fork to kinesiology.  We learned that we should also show her or give her a visual representation of the thing we wanted her to repeat.  To this day, her primary strength is her vocabulary!  Jake and I are very proud of that...

When Jazz was about 3 years old she had a special friend from pre-school who created an Echolalic language with her.  It was the "Winnie the Pooh Yeah" language. 

They would spend hours speaking back and forth only saying, "Winnie the Pooh Yeah?"  "Yeah."  "Winnie the Pooh Winnie the Pooh Yeah."  "Yeah!" 

The teachers were exhausted by the end of a whole day of this.  I had no idea the extent of this until we saw her little friend at a restaurant one night.  They literally screamed with joy to see each other outside of school.  Despite sitting across from the restaurant from one another they were able to have their conversations the entire hour we were there through squeals, screams, and shouts of, "Winnie the Pooh Yeah."

When Jazz was in second grade with an autistic boy who would repeat the same phrases over and over and over.  And yes, it would trigger Jazz's the Echolalia.  She would be totally focused and compliant, and would be repeating his favorite phrase right after him.  Together they would be saying, "Uh-oh Blue, you fall down!"  Based on something he heard once on Blue's Clues.  Over and over and over the two of them would do this.  The teachers couldn't do much because they were still focused and working hard after all.

Today, when Jazz becomes Echolalic it's a sign that she is exhausted and it's time for her to go to bed ASAP or a sign of seizure activity.  It is interesting how this often times annoying symptom of her brain injury has turned out to be a blessing for her. 

Just remember to be thankful the next time you can get your child to consciously stop playing the obnoxious copy game.

Much Love!