Sometimes echolalia is immediate and the child is echoing the words they 
hear.Is Late Speech Always an Autism Trait?Echopraxia 
Echolalia is sometimes confused with a term that sounds similar--
echopraxia
.Echolalia and palilalia are not limited to autism; in fact, palilalia tends to be 
seen more in Tourette's syndrome, Parkinson's disease, and seizure 
disorders.For example, a child watches an episode of 
"Sesame Street" and later that day they recite the interactions between 
Bert and Ernie or sing a line from the theme song.Palilalia 
Palilalia is a speech disorder that's marked by the involuntary repetition of 
words and phrases.How Speech Therapy Helps Autistic Kids
Related Behaviors and Conditions 
There are some other behaviors and conditions that are similar to echolalia 
that may occur in autism.Palilalia
often involves increasingly rapid speech with the same repeated sounds.An autistic child may have echopraxia, but it also occurs in Tourette's 
syndrome.However, instead of using an 
original phrase in the flow of normal conversation (like "yes, please," or 
"I'd like lemonade"), the child echoes the precise language.A child may also use Ernie's words intentionally, or the words are just 
repeated sounds.One difference is that in echolalia, the repetition or echoing is focused on 
other people's words and is received when the child hears them.In echopraxia, a person repeats a movement that they see another person 
doing.However, they are not doing it intentionally--it's more like a 
reflexive action that they may not even be fully conscious of. 
For example, they see a person scratch their head and they automatically 
move to scratch their head, too.However, scripting is generally an intentional strategy.For example, an 
autistic child might repeat a catchphrase from a character on a TV show 
when they're talking with their classmates because they are not sure what 
to say.For example, a caregiver asks the child, "Do you want a drink?" and 
the child responds with "You want a drink."The inability to switch pronouns is common.The child might be responding 
appropriately and may actually want a drink.Echolalia can also be delayed.In delayed echolalia, there's a distance between hearing 
and using the words.In that sense, it is like echolalia but there are some key 
differences.Scripting 
Scripting is another tool many autistic people use.It's a little like echolalia 
since they are saying words or phrases that they heard somewhere.Palilalia can even be a side effect of some drugs.