Echolalia from a transdiagnostic perspective

Abstract

Background & aims Echolalia, the repetition of one's or others’ utterances, is a behavior present in typical development, autism spectrum disorder, aphasias, Tourette's, and other clinical groups. Despite the broad range of conditions in which echolalia can occur, it is considered primarily through a disorder-specific lens, which limits a full understanding of the behavior. Method Empirical and review papers on echolalia across disciplines and etiologies were considered for this narrative review. Literatures were condensed into three primary sections, including echolalia presentations, neural mechanisms, and treatment approaches. Main contribution Echolalia, commonly observed in autism and other developmental conditions, is assessed, observed, and treated in a siloed fashion, which reduces our collective knowledge of this communication difference. Echolalia should be considered as a developmental, transdiagnostic, and communicative phenomenon. Echolalia is commonly considered as a communicative behavior, but little is known about its neural etiologies or efficacious treatments. Conclusions This review is the first to synthesize echolalia from a transdiagnostic perspective, which allows for the direct comparisons across and within clinical groups to inform assessment, treatment, conceptualization, and research recommendations. Implications Considering echolalia transdiagnostically highlights the lack of consensus on operationalization and measurement across and within disorders. Clinical and research future directions need to prioritize consistent definitions of echolalia, which can be used to derive accurate prevalence estimates. Echolalia should be considered as a communication strategy, used similarly across developmental and clinical groups, with recommended strategies of shaping to increase its effectiveness.

O Que É a Ecolalia Para O Autismo Segundo a Literatura?

“…Logo, as funções linguísticas podem representar o elo da linguagem "mais fácil" de ser interpretado por pessoas com dificul-dades de linguagem autogerada. Olhando pelo prisma de Prizant e Rydell em 1984, a ecolalia pode ser compreendida como "uma maneira de escuta, interação e reciprocidade, para afirmar ou enfatizar a experiência do ecolálico com outra pessoa" (14) .…”

“…No que tange ao tratamento, devem ser indicados somente nos casos em que atrapalham a vida das pessoas que a utilizam, devendo ser avaliado o custo-benefício da terapia, bem como o a ecolalia prejudica o funcionamento da pessoa (14) .…”

“…Referente às abordagens comportamentais, estas concernem no acompanhamento instrutivo e incentivador ou na remodelação da fala da pessoa que utiliza a ecolalia. Para isso, precisa-se instrumentalizar estratégias comportamentais implicadas, modelagem comportamental, reforço positivo, treinamento de roteiro, interrupção de resposta e ignorar o planejado (14) .…”

“…No entanto, é importante destacar que nenhuma intervenção foi reconhecida como "baseada em evidências" para o tratamento do autismo (8) . Apesar disso, abordagens comportamentais tradicionais ainda oferecem parâmetros sólidos que demonstram resultados na redução da frequência, intensidade e impacto da ecolalia, pelo menos a curto prazo, inoportunizando o tratamento farmacológico (14) .…”

Zjawisko echolalii w wypowiedziach pacjenta z zaburzeniami neurogenno-psychicznymi

“…Andreasen 1979;Frith 2003;Suzuki i in. 2012;McFayden 2022) obserwowali echolalie, świadczy o niezwykle złożonej i zróżnicowanej e ologii zjawiska, którego uwarunkowania, mimo wielu cennych prac poświęconych temu fenomenowi, nadal pozostają nie w pełni wyjaśnione.…”