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From: Brian Humphrey
Date: 10/9/01
Time: 12:47:35 AM
Remote Name: 65.33.237.204
Hello, Dierdre.
Thanks for a great question! I am not aware of any research on word-final repetitions in autism, but I have not done a thorough search of the autism literature.
Fluency disorders are sometimes observed in developmentally delayed individuals. There have been some articles written about dysfluency in Down's syndrome, for example.
Although your suggestion of word-final repetition in autistic individuals is certainly possible, I have not observed it. However, I have observed multiple repetitions of the utterances of others. Word-final repetitions would not be covered by the term "echolalia." Echolalia refers to repeating the utterances of others. Repeating one's own utterances is often referred to in medical literature as "palilalia."
It is interesting to me that articles describing the symptomatology of Tourette's syndrome and other tic disorders mention both echolalia and palilalia as possibilities. Although my experience with Tourette's syndrome has been limited and I have not had the opportunity to observe echolalia or palilalia in an individual with Tourette's, I suspect that any palilalia associated with Tourette's syndrome may differ in character from the palilalia reported in Parkinsonian disorders. If true, it would not surprise me: one of the articles we cited, Benke and Butterworth(2001), has suggested already that two distinct types of palilalia may be distinguished in adult neurogenic cases. Historically, we have had trouble defining stuttering, and now we may be headed for a debate about the definition of palilalia.
We have very few detailed descriptions of palilalia in adult neurogenic disorders, and to my knowledge, none have been reported for Tourette's syndrome or other tic disorders. Some thorough case reports would be very helpful.
I find it very interesting that there appears to be an increased incidence of Tourette's syndrome among individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. I find it also interesting that the basal ganglia are implicated in movement disorders like Tourette's syndrome as well as in Parkinsonian disorders, and that evidence is appearing for implication of the basal ganglia in fluency disorders. For further background, you may wish to check out some of our references. An easy source to check would be Larry Molt's on-line paper about the basal ganglia and stuttering, written for the 1999 ISAD conference. There is a link to the 1999 ISAD conference on the Stuttering Home Page: http://stutteringhomepage.com