Psychogenic theories
Alan Carr, Alan Carr in The Handbook of Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology, 2006
Early theories about the aetiology of autism attributed the social, linguistic and behavioural features to emotional difficulties that derived from exposure to inadequate parenting. For example, Bettelheim (1967) argued that autistic withdrawal was the child’s response to cold, unemotional, inadequate parenting. Some of the annoying features of autism, such as echolalia, insistence on sameness and stereotyped rituals were viewed as expressions of hostility towards parents who were thought to be perceived by the child as failing to fulfil his or her needs. Long-term non-directive psychodynamic psychotherapy, which focused on helping children deal with the central emotional difficulty, was identified as the treatment of choice. The aim of the therapy was to provide a substitute parent-child relationship that would meet the child’s needs for warmth and acceptance. In some instances, psychotherapy for parents to help them resolve the emotional difficulties that underpinned their inadequate parenting, was also recommended. These theories evolved within the psychodynamic tradition at a time when psychodynamic studies of children separated from their parents during the war or through hospitalization highlighted the value of parental emotional warmth and availability or a psychotherapeutic substitute for this in helping children to cope with separation.
On the intersection of phonetic detail and the organization of interaction: Clinical connections
Published in Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 2013
The analysis of language use in real-world contexts poses particular methodological challenges. We codify responses to these challenges as a series of methodological imperatives. To demonstrate the relevance of these imperatives to clinical investigation, we present analyses of single episodes of interaction where one participant has a speech and/or language impairment: atypical prosody, echolalia and dysarthria. We demonstrate there is considerable heuristic and analytic value in taking this approach to analysing the organization of interaction involving individuals with a speech and/or language impairment.
Echolalia or functional repetition in conversation – a case study of an individual with Huntington's disease
Published in Disability and Rehabilitation, 2011
Charlotta Saldert, Lena Hartelius
Purpose. In this case study, we investigated the use of repetition in an individual with a neurogenic communication disorder. Method. We present an analysis of interaction in natural conversations between a woman with advanced Huntington's disease (HD), whose speech had been described as sometimes characterised by echolalia, and her personal assistant. The conversational interaction is analysed on a sequential level, and recurrent patterns are explored. Results. Although the ability of the person with HD to interact is affected by chorea, word retrieval problems and reduced comprehension, she takes an active part in conversation. The conversational partner's contributions are often adapted to her communicative ability as they are formulated as questions or suggestions that can be elaborated on or responded to with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The person with HD often repeats the words of her conversational partner in a way that extends her contributions and shows listenership, and this use of repetition is also frequent in ordinary conversations between non-brain-damaged individuals. Conclusions. The results show that the conversation partners in this case cooperate in making the conversation proceed and evolve, and that verbal repetition is used in a way that works as a strategy for compensating for the impairment.
The interactional significance of formulas in autistic language
Published in Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 2003
Sushie Dobbinson, Mick Perkins, Jill Boucher
The phenomenon of echolalia in autistic language is well documented. Whilst much early research dismissed echolalia as merely an indicator of cognitive limitation, later work identified particular discourse functions of echolalic utterances. The work reported here extends the study of the interactional significance of echolalia to formulaic utterances. Audio and video recordings of conversations between the first author and two research participants were transcribed and analysed according to a Conversation Analysis framework and a multi‐layered linguistic framework. Formulaic language was found to have predictable interactional significance within the language of an individual with autism, and the generic phenomenon of formulaicity in company with predictable discourse function was seen to hold across the research participants, regardless of cognitive ability. The implications of formulaicity in autistic language for acquisition and processing mechanisms are discussed.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Echopraxia
- Gilles De La Tourette Syndrome
- Dementia
- Schizophrenia
- Epilepsy
- Aphasia
- Speech Disorders