Repeating other people

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I know a lot of people on here have dealt with echolalia before, but I'm wondering if anyone has actually had a habit of repeating what other people say right after they say it?

I noticed recently that I do repeat other people. I usually repeat either the last thing they said, or a key phrase from what they were saying. I think I'm subconsciously trying to affirm to them that I was listening to them, but I noticed that other people don't really repeat others the way I do or as often as I do.

That's just the ape in them talking.

I don't know if I do it, and if I do it, I never noticed it.

I was actually taught to do this as a communication technique. repeating what somebody says or saying it back to them in your own words affirms that they are being heard or understood.

My mother had echolalia all her life so I grew up repeating phrases and bits of words and also rhyming, which was something that was part of her echolalia. I had no idea she was autistic until long after she passed away, and I learned about my own autism in my late 60s.

Yeah, I've seen allistic people do it, but I think what's weird about me doing it is that it's not necessarily on purpose (I kind of just subconsciously repeat things and w/o saying or adding anything else to respond), even though it has a function, and sometimes the phrases I repeat from people aren't actually that contextually important.

I might have done it as a child, but I'm not sure. Definitely not doing it anymore... I mean, sometimes, when I get multiple instructions at once, like at work, I repeat everything right after to make sure I understood correctly, but since I do it consciously, it's an entirely different thing, isn't it?

I don’t, but then I was mute from the age of 5 for a large chunk of my childhood, & have always been fairly quiet. But, I know of someone close to me, who does repeat the end of what I say distinctly on a regular basis. She is highly intelligent, on the spectrum & it does really stand out to me. I never mention it to her, but am very aware that this is tied in with her “Sense of Self”. She is the sweetest lady, impressive in so many ways, but is lacking in confidence. She is an introvert who loves books & has a Masters Degree in psychology.

Great to see you back!

Thanks . So sorry to read all that you’ve been going through. Hope there’ll be better days ahead for you.

Just nice to see you around.

Thank you for the kind words.

I did it as a child until the kids on the school bus were talking about what a huge problem I had because I repeated people. I never did it again after that morning. That's how ashamed I was of that trait. I didn't want to be known as "The kid with the problem" anymore.