http://www.babycenter.com/404_is-it-normal-that-my-toddler-tends-to-imitate-a-question-rat_11637.bc
Is it normal that my toddler tends to imitate a question rather than answer it?
While it's totally normal for your 12- to 24-month-old to incessantly parrot everything you say, once he reaches 2 years old he should begin to understand the nature of questions and answers and respond to your queries. When you ask your child, "Where is your truck?" a typical response would be "There!" or "In my room!" But if by 30 months, your child answers your question with a question (saying "Where your truck?"), you should be concerned and may want to look a little more closely at his development. This kind of talking is called "echolalia," and can be an early sign of autism, a disorder that short-circuits the brain in a way that prevents normal processing of sensory information, including language and interaction with other people.
Many autistic children begin talking normally until about 18 months, when they suddenly seem to "lose" the words they've learned and become less responsive to their parents. They may have difficulty putting meaningful phrases together, or may memorize and repeatedly recite phrases or songs out of context. A child with autism may also have some of the following characteristics some of the time:
*Learned letters or taught himself to read with very little instruction *Overreacts to loud sounds, putting his hands over his ears *Fixates on one particular theme, such as Thomas the Tank Engine (trains are very popular with autistic children for some reason) *Seems indifferent to what other people are doing *Tends to talk in a sing-song voice or a whisper *Sometimes seems "deaf" though you know he can hear normally
Autism encompasses several other disorders, including PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder) and Asperger's syndrome. There has recently been a huge nationwide increase in the number of children with these disorders (reportedly 500 percent in California alone) and experts are calling for studies to find out the cause. We still have a lot to learn about this disorder, but there is much help and support out there. For more information on autism, contact the Autism Society of America.
Many autistic children begin talking normally until about 18 months, when they suddenly seem to "lose" the words they've learned and become less responsive to their parents. They may have difficulty putting meaningful phrases together, or may memorize and repeatedly recite phrases or songs out of context. A child with autism may also have some of the following characteristics some of the time:
*Learned letters or taught himself to read with very little instruction *Overreacts to loud sounds, putting his hands over his ears *Fixates on one particular theme, such as Thomas the Tank Engine (trains are very popular with autistic children for some reason) *Seems indifferent to what other people are doing *Tends to talk in a sing-song voice or a whisper *Sometimes seems "deaf" though you know he can hear normally
Autism encompasses several other disorders, including PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder) and Asperger's syndrome. There has recently been a huge nationwide increase in the number of children with these disorders (reportedly 500 percent in California alone) and experts are calling for studies to find out the cause. We still have a lot to learn about this disorder, but there is much help and support out there. For more information on autism, contact the Autism Society of America.
