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JourneyFan
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20 Jan 2022, 5:09 am

Ever since I can remember, I do this thing where I will subconsciously repeat a line I just heard on tv. I’ll only realise I’m doing it mid sentence or just after. I don’t say it out loud - more of a whisper or just mouth the words. I have tried to look this up not knowing what to search for but I recently read about echolalia and was wondering if that’s what it could be - or is it a form of Tourette’s or OCD?

Does anybody else do this?



autisticelders
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20 Jan 2022, 6:56 am

yes, classic echolalia. Repeating things(out loud, whispered, or just in your thoughts) you have recently (and not so recently)heard seems to be part of audio processing for many autistic folks. Do you do it in conversation or other overheard words or lyrics?


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JourneyFan
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20 Jan 2022, 7:39 am

autisticelders wrote:
yes, classic echolalia. Repeating things(out loud, whispered, or just in your thoughts) you have recently (and not so recently)heard seems to be part of audio processing for many autistic folks. Do you do it in conversation or other overheard words or lyrics?


If I do, then I am not aware of it. I have been more self aware lately though as I am still going through the assessment process. The psychiatrist told me to read up on Austism in females and I do seem to relate to a lot of it including "masking". I remember being teased at school for the way I walked (I used to slouch and look down at the floor) so I started to study other people and how they would walk. I would practise in my room. So I think the repeating thing is done quietly and partially because I am masking. I have been trying not to mask so much lately though and I feel I am "unravelling" my true self.



_cora_
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20 Jan 2022, 11:50 am

My "echolalia" is all in my head, basically I concentrate VERY hard on a certain phrase or song. If anyone comes into my room while I'm doing it, I feel shocked and like they heard me "singing" even though I wasn't doing it out loud.
Also there's a similar system for images, I have this corporate art style dude smiling stuck in my brain right now. I don't remember where I even saw it, it's just stuck there. Every time I smile I see him, and another cartoon character, whenever I'm angry I see this one Union general from the civil war.
That's just my personal experience, perhaps you can relate.



kraftiekortie
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20 Jan 2022, 12:07 pm

I sometimes repeat phrases I hear out loud if they have a certain rhythm that I like.

I also repeatedly say, in the street: "I am the Wolfman...indeed I am!"



JourneyFan
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20 Jan 2022, 12:39 pm

_cora_ wrote:
My "echolalia" is all in my head, basically I concentrate VERY hard on a certain phrase or song. If anyone comes into my room while I'm doing it, I feel shocked and like they heard me "singing" even though I wasn't doing it out loud.
Also there's a similar system for images, I have this corporate art style dude smiling stuck in my brain right now. I don't remember where I even saw it, it's just stuck there. Every time I smile I see him, and another cartoon character, whenever I'm angry I see this one Union general from the civil war.
That's just my personal experience, perhaps you can relate.


Ah! I do have this I think. When I am thinking, I move my lips (but only when there's no one else about) I do the same when reading anything. I guess it's what you'd call a semi verbal thought.
So sometimes I will have a thought and then finish off each (semi verbal) thought with the same words which are some local slang words which I would never say out loud to anybody!



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20 Jan 2022, 1:15 pm

I don't think I do it subconsciously, but I've always repeated things from shows/games/etc. When I was a kid there was even a point where I mainly spoke in references to other things.



JimJohn
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20 Jan 2022, 1:30 pm

I remember doing something like this as a child. I remember someone telling me I could not sing so I stopped. Do you think that is Echolalia? I was in preteen years.



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20 Jan 2022, 2:53 pm

I don’t know if it technically is or not if it isn’t out loud, but I repeat almost everything in my head. Sometimes I get stuck on a word or phrase (often the last one I heard or read) and keep repeating it, but usually in my head or as a whisper, I rarely engage my vocal cords.


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20 Jan 2022, 3:12 pm

I think I may parrot other peoples words sometimes. More of a emphasis thing. But only on specific things, that stand out. Like pointing out things, and throwing it back to them, to reflect, or realize what they've said, or to be funny. Or maybe it's just a reflex. A pause, so i can ponder.

But echolalia, I never heard of that term.

I think I pay fairly close attention to that people say, and I can recall alot of details other people might forget. And will sometimes go over a convo in my mind, hours after, if it left an an intense impression or is of particular interest to me. A form of 'Rumination.' Which is a process thats strengthens memory pathways in the brain. Also the process I remember dreams by.

But I feel I have control of what I say and do. Echolalia sounds like some kind of tourettes of the mind.


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JourneyFan
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20 Jan 2022, 4:29 pm

theprisoner wrote:
But echolalia, I never heard of that term.

Echolalia sounds like some kind of tourettes of the mind.


That's a good description. I first heard about echolalia about 10 years ago when I was reading up on Tourette's because I thought my youngest son had it. Echolalia is very common in Tourette's.



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09 Feb 2022, 9:22 pm

For some reason, nearly every time I go into the bathroom I say "I have written a piece of software" out loud. I often go to the bathroom when I need to get time away from people and sounds so it may not be the bathroom itself that triggers it but releasing feelings of anxiety in a private space.

Another thing that I'm aware of is that I can't seem to help mimicking other people's accents when I am speaking to them.



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16 Feb 2022, 3:33 am

Based on the comments, I might have echolalia. I always repeat stuff, whether it is out loud, or in my mind, or whispered. It's also the same with music, artwork, and conversations or quotes.

Or course, this is not set on stone, because I am basing this off of the info from this post's comments, but I'm surprised with how much I relate to this



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13 Jun 2022, 12:34 am

Is this echolalia?
If I'm trying to participate in a conversation, and there is a TV on in the background, sometimes I inadvertently repeat stuff that was said on the TV. Basically I am swapping a word or sentence from the TV for something I was going to say.


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