Bubbles

Today I am listening carefully to all the words around me. So many words... from Mummy and Luca and Grandma and the television and my teachers. Some of the words hurt my ears and some of them make me smile.

When I move my lips and tongue and throat the right way, I can make those same words come out of my mouth. I can copy all the words that I hear. Mummy says "Luca, time to do your school reading" and I say Luca, time to do your school reading - straight away, just like that!

I don't know what the words mean, but I like the way they feel in my mouth.

When I do Daddy's words I close my throat and tip my chin down to make the words deep and boomy. When I do Luca's words I let them fly loud and squeaky right out of the top of my head!

Sometimes when I copy words Mummy says "Zac, you are being echolalic today" (and I say Zac, you are being echolalic today) and that word makes me smile.
E-ko-LAY-lick... I like using the tip of my tongue to make the "L".


In the bath today Luca and Mummy made lots of words and I copied them. Then Luca copied too and we all copied each other till the whole bath was full of words and bubbles and smiles.


One of Zac's recent reports described him as having "significant echolalia" - a common feature of autism where the child repeats the sounds and words that they hear around them, without necessarily understanding them. At the moment Zac is enjoying his echolalia and sometimes copies everything that he hears throughout the day. We are hoping that this will eventually lead to some meaningful speech.

Key:
WHITE text is me, "speaking" as Zac
GREEN text is direct quotes from Zac
GREY text is background commentary or explanation