Blackburn Catherine, Tueres Martina, Sandanayake Niki, Roberts Jacqueline, Sutherland Rebecca
Discipline of Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia.
Autism Centre of Excellence, Griffith University, Nathan, Australia.
Int J Lang Commun Disord. 2023 Nov-Dec;58(6):1977-1993. doi: 10.1111/1460-6984.12931. Epub 2023 Jul 18.
Echolalia, the repetition of others' speech, is a common observation in autistic people. Research has established that echolalia is functional and meaningful for many; however, some clinicians and researchers continue to characterise it as pathological and in need of reduction. The aim of this systematic review was to understand the range and impact of interventions for echolalia in autistic children.
A systematic search was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 15 studies met predetermined inclusion criteria. Screening, data extraction and quality rating using the Scientific Merit Rating Scale (SMRS) were performed in duplicate.
Ten interventions across 15 papers were found. Results indicated that interventions generally decreased levels of echolalia. However, there were considerable inconsistencies in the definitions and conceptualisations of echolalia, administration, generalisation techniques and the measures used. The quality of the studies was very low.
Interventions for echolalia vary widely in terms of administration and measurement. There is limited consensus on the definition of echolalia among the reviewed studies, and no evidence that echolalia is recognised as functional or meaningful to the autistic children. Further, the lack of methodological rigour makes it difficult to draw clinical conclusions about the interventions.
What is already known Echolalia is the immediate or delayed repetition of others' speech and is a common observation in autistic children and in some older autistic people. While research and practice has established that echolalia is a functional and meaningful form of communication, particularly for those first developing spoken communication, some clinicians and researchers continue to characterise it as problematic and suggest that echolalia should be reduced or eliminated. What this study adds We systematically searched the literature about echolalia interventions to try to find out about the types of interventions that aim to reduce or eliminate echolalia. We found 15 studies on this topic. The way they defined echolalia was varied, and there was a range of interventions researched. None of the research papers recognised echolalia as functional or meaningful and the quality of the research was very low. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Clinicians, families and researchers should think carefully and critically about suggesting any programs or supports that aim to reduce echolalia as no recommendations can be drawn from the research we studied. Echolalia should be considered functional, and efforts made to understand the meaning and purpose of echolalic speech.
模仿言语，即重复他人的话语，是自闭症患者中常见的现象。研究表明，模仿言语对许多人来说具有功能性且有意义；然而，一些临床医生和研究人员仍将其视为病态的，需要减少。本系统综述的目的是了解针对自闭症儿童模仿言语的干预措施的范围和影响。
根据系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目（PRISMA）指南进行系统检索。共有15项研究符合预定的纳入标准。使用科学价值评定量表（SMRS）进行筛选、数据提取和质量评级，均进行了两次。
在15篇论文中发现了10种干预措施。结果表明，干预措施通常会降低模仿言语的水平。然而，在模仿言语的定义和概念化、实施方式、泛化技术以及所使用的测量方法方面存在相当大的不一致。这些研究的质量非常低。
针对模仿言语的干预措施在实施和测量方面差异很大。在所审查的研究中，对于模仿言语的定义缺乏共识，并且没有证据表明模仿言语对自闭症儿童具有功能性或有意义。此外，缺乏方法上的严谨性使得难以就这些干预措施得出临床结论。
已知信息 模仿言语是对他人话语的即时或延迟重复，是自闭症儿童和一些大龄自闭症患者中常见的现象。虽然研究和实践已经确定模仿言语是一种功能性且有意义的交流形式，特别是对于那些刚开始发展口语交流的人来说，但一些临床医生和研究人员仍将其视为有问题的，并建议应减少或消除模仿言语。本研究补充的内容 我们系统地检索了有关模仿言语干预措施的文献，试图找出旨在减少或消除模仿言语的干预措施类型。我们找到了15项关于这个主题的研究。他们对模仿言语的定义各不相同，研究的干预措施也多种多样。没有一篇研究论文认为模仿言语具有功能性或有意义，并且研究质量非常低。这项工作的潜在或实际临床意义是什么？临床医生、家庭和研究人员在建议任何旨在减少模仿言语的项目或支持措施时应仔细且批判性地思考，因为从我们研究的这些研究中无法得出任何建议。应该认为模仿言语具有功能性，并努力理解模仿言语的意义和目的。
