Echolalia is a comical experience. For those non-autistic parents, echolalia is the repeating of text you just heard that is typical of those with auditory integration disorders. The individual buys time in “repeating after me” in order to perhaps think out the words they just heard. It’s common with autism, particularly the profound variant, and while many individuals learn other assistive strategies and echolalia diminishes, as it has with our guys, we still see it – to hysterical aplomb.
Friday night was like our usual here. Library volunteering is first, where for the past 5 years I take the boys to the children’s room where they shelve picture books and board books (tasks not requiring reading of a library catalog number), and spray/wipe down the tables; followed by a trip to the bank where each boy practices signing their name on a check, walking to a teller and saying “Cash please” or “deposit please,” then completing the chain. Sometimes there’s a fast run into CVS or the dry cleaner, but the last stop is the reward of a Whole Foods visit where the boys get to purchase their snack, usually pizza or chicken nuggets, as they complete the whole chain with words, wallets and counting dollar bills.
It was a very successful jaunt and we returned home as usual with the hubby having already poured me a large glass of wine and started baking the stuffed clams we always have as appetizer on Fridays before our fresh fish. I was riffing on the day’s minor news items including the six fat envelopes just arrived from our detested new health insurance company who has amazingly found a way to pay just about zero of the boys claims for 9 months, causing me acid stomach and time I don’t have so chase down these people as I hold a metaphorical bazooka gun on the other end of the phone. – We began ragging on why health insurance reform bypassed these idiotic third parties with the hubby saying ” insurance companies are just in business to screw the doctor and deny your claim.”
J. was nearby setting the table and as he loves to listen in on big people chatter and pick up on the most emotionally intoned words, immediately began his “Screw the doctors!” “Screw the doctors” repetition, going on for at least 20 minutes through dinner. It was hysterical at first, and even when we tried to replace it with other mantras like “Job helping” (our words for chores he was doing at the time) or “Help the doctors” – J wasn’t fooled, with this little gleam in his eye.
Full disclosure – a few weeks ago the repeater box text of the day was “God DAMN it.” Emphasis on the 2nd syllable. – And yes, I hate to admit but W. enjoyed the “F*** this s**t” mantra in the not too distant past. (did I say that?)
Consequently we don’t do R rated movies with the boys present in the room and restrict our movies experience to those where the repeater box won’t get filled with the above style gems.
Which is rather a bummer as I think about how on God’s green earth I’m going to occupy the boys for the next 72 hours when we’ll likely be locked indoors again with 18+ more inches of snow, school cancellations and plenty of (overdue) work tasks.
Just another silly moment in the land of autism, and a scene for that long deferred novel.