5 Best Books for Kids with Echolalia

My daughter, who was later diagnosed with autism, exhibited severe echolalia when she was a toddler. With a few months of very diligient speech therapy-- both at home and with a professional-- I was able to help her overcome it so it didn't become a chronic issue. I believe that a switch in her book collection partially helped to nip echolalia in the bud before it turned into a lifelong speech disorder. In my experience, these are the best books for children with echolalia.

1. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Eric Carle)

This classic children's book is perfect for kids with echolalia. While rhyming, sing-songy books like those by Dr. Seuss tend to encourage echolalia, Eric Carle's "Brown Bear" models the correct use of language. If your toddler with echoalia also has pronoun reversal, this book can help to teach him to respond to questions appropriately -- i.e., answering "What do you see?" with "I see ____ looking at me." You can encourage your toddler's ability to remember this question-answer format by asking him the questions in the book. If he's looking at the picture of a blue horse, ask him, "Johnny, Johnny, what do you see?" Then wait for his response.

2. Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear? (Eric Carle)

There's a reason that Eric Carle made three books in this format. They all help to model correct pronoun use and question-answer formats for toddlers and older children with echolalia. For this reason, parents, teachers and speech-language pathologists all widely recommend them for autistic kids. If "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" is working out well for your toddler with echolalia, grab him the next book in the series. This one models an additional verb (hear), and that can introduce new words and concepts to toddlers with echolalia.

3. Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you See? (Eric Carle)

One more Eric Carle book for the win. This one has the same format as "Brown Bear" and "Polar Bear," and it models the use of the "see" verb correctly to reinforce the lessons learned in the other books in the series. Another book in the series, "Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What do you See?" is also helpful, but I didn't fnd it to be as useful as the three better-known Eric Carle books for echolalia. My daughter's speech-language pathologist said that autistic children tend to be more drawn to the panda illustrations because of the black-and-white contrast. So, if you suspect that your toddler is on the spectrum, you may want to pick this one.

4. Are you my Mother? (P.D. Eastman)

Another excellent book for modeling correct pronoun and question-answer use in toddlers, "Are you My Mother?" helps to introduce echolalic toddlers to narrative story-telling, while also helping to demonstrate the correct use of "I" and "me." It also demonstrates that it's appropriate to respond to a question with an accurate answer, not a repetition of it. My daughter started improving her speech patterns drastically after we read "Are You My Mother?" daily for a week. I highly recommend reading it to toddlers with echolalia.

5. "I Say... You Say..." (Sandy Pugh)

This is an ideal book for children with echolalia, particularly those on the autism spectrum. This book introduces opposites with zany, fun illustrations that capture the attention of children who have difficulty focusing on new concepts. As an interactive, lift-the-flap book, it encourages your toddler to participate in the story and to provide his own answers -- first by memorization, then by habit, then by comprehension.If your toddler still has echolalia after you have used these simple home interventions, consult his pediatrician or speech-language pathologist for more help determining solutions.