Functional analysis and treatment of immediate echolalia

Document Type

Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

M.S. Applied Behavior Analysis

Date Completed

2018

First Committee Member

Roscoe, Eileen

Second Committee Member

Ahearn, William

Third Committee Member

Thompson, Rachel

Abstract

"Echolalia, or the persistent repetition of auditory stimuli in a nonfunctional and stereotyped manner, is a common behavior of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is among the key criteria for diagnosing individuals with ASD (Lewis & Bodfish, 1998; Rhode, 1999). Immediate echolalia involves repeating another person's speech, emitting one or more words, immediately after they have been spoken (Colon, Ahearn, Clark, & Masalsky, 2012). Echolalia typically occurs during early language development in children ages 2-3, and then it tends to dissipate as children develop more complex language (Schreibman & Carr, 1978). However, for individuals with ASD, echolalia may persist. Prevalence estimates for verbal individuals with ASD who exhibit echolalia are 75%, and for individuals who display echolalia, it occurs in 50% of all vocalizations (Charlop, 1992; Lewis, & Bodfish, 1998). Given these prevalence estimates, it is important to develop function-based treatments."

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