Honoring Echolalia IS Functional
One of the biggest concerns I hear from both parents and professionals is this:
If I’m honoring echolalia, am I ignoring functional language? If I’m not teaching functional words, if I’m not focusing on labeling or requesting…how will my child or student learn to communicate functionally?
I get it. It’s such a common worry because we’ve all been told, over and over, that functional language means things like naming objects, answering questions, or asking for what you want.
But here’s the truth.
Echolalia is functional.
Scripts are functional.
And honoring them is not ignoring functional language. It’s actually the key to helping gestalt language processors develop the kind of flexible, self-generated language that will allow them to communicate more independently.
What Does Functional Actually Mean?
We have been taught to think of functional language as requests, labels, and core vocabulary… but that’s such a narrow part of what communication actually is.
Functional language is any language that helps a child connect with others, express their thoughts and feelings, self-advocate, or navigate their world.
That line they repeat every time they walk into the room; that script they use when something unexpected happens; the way they use echolalia to protest, to comfort themselves, to fill a gap when they don’t have their own words yet…
That is functional.
It’s real communication. It’s telling you something about how they feel, what they want, what they need, and what they are processing in that moment. And our job is to acknowledge and honor it.
When we stop thinking of echolalia as something to fix and start recognizing all the functions it serves, we can finally see it for what it really is.
Echolalia helps kids:
Request things they need
Protest what they don’t want
Process emotions, memories, and past experiences
Self-regulate when they feel overwhelmed or uncertain
Connect with the people around them in a way that feels meaningful to them
The biggest myth I want to address is this idea that honoring echolalia means you are stopping or delaying progress toward self-generated language.
That could not be further from the truth!
Honoring echolalia is how you support self-generated language.
It’s how you show a child that their communication is valid, that their voice matters, and that you are a safe communication partner who isn’t going to shut down their natural process.
When you model rich language at their level, acknowledge their scripts and respond meaningfully- you are giving the child exactly what they need to move toward flexible, self-generated, “functional” language.
It’s time to redefine “functional.”
When you understand and honor echolalia, you are respecting the child’s communication. You are expanding it. You are helping them build a solid foundation of trust and connection, so they can confidently continue to develop their language.
Functional language is so much bigger than naming and requesting. It’s protesting, joking, storytelling, processing, connecting, advocating, and beyond.
And echolalia is where it all begins for many autistic kids and gestalt language processors.
So no, you are not ignoring functional language when you honor echolalia.
You are honoring what is meaningful to the child, and that is what allows future communication to grow!
