Echolalia, or repeating words, doesn't automatically mean autism. Children echo for two main reasons: they don't understand and repeat to get clarification, or repetition becomes a learned habit. Ming from Agents of Speech explains what parents should actually watch for.
Parents ask me when my child echoes me, is it echolalia? Does that mean that they are on the spectrum and the answer is no, it might not be. It might be. But if you just say echolalia, does it equate to autism? The answer is obvious. No. There are a lot of children who are delayed that repeat questions, repeat what people say. Sometimes they repeat in a particular way. It might be other things. The reason why people repeat questions in general is because they don't understand it. There is a function for repeating someone's question because we don't really understand it and we want it to be rephrased. Children don't have that vocab to say, hey, I don't understand. Can you say again? So that's why they repeat the question. That's number one reason. Number two reason is because it becomes a routine. Children will grab whatever you're modeling and to use it in their vocab all the time. That's why swear words are a huge thing for children who are delayed because it's loud, it's passionate, it's emotional. Children will pick that up and will use it even at the right situations, even if they're delayed.
