25 Months: “The planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Marstard, Cabbage, Spinach, Cress, and Parsley.”
Toddlers, and autistic
toddlers in particular, have noggins predisposed to a little trait called
echolalia, or the often-meaningless repetition of things they’ve heard elsewhere.
In some kids, it’s immediate—when asked their names, they immediately ask the
name of the person who posed the question, like an echo. In others, it’s
“delayed,” and the repetition comes hours, days, or even weeks after hearing
the words and phrases they later repeat. My kid had both.
Echolalia is what makes some kids decide to start reciting “Go Dog Go” every time they see a dog, and it’s what made my toddler learn to recite a whole library of books—along with the preamble and some Shakespearean soliloquies, which I taught her just for fun—and it’s what caused this little nonsequitur.
I had taken advantage of my kidlet’s autistic traits by teaching her to recite lists (because, you know, what’s the point in having a toddler if you don’t teach them a few cute “tricks” to make them less tedious and more fun?). Among these lists were the answers to “What are the names of the planets?” and “What are the names of some green, leafy vegetables?”
She memorized both lists… sort of. At some point in reciting them, she got a few wires crossed and switched out “Mars,” for “Marstard,” and proceeded to consider the planet of Dijon to be first of many named after green veggies.
I never corrected her. I would rather pretend to live in a universe in which Cabbage is the fifth rock, than live in the real universe, where all planets are named after long-forgotten gods. It was another year or so before she figured it out herself, and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't disappointed when it happened.
Echolalia is what makes some kids decide to start reciting “Go Dog Go” every time they see a dog, and it’s what made my toddler learn to recite a whole library of books—along with the preamble and some Shakespearean soliloquies, which I taught her just for fun—and it’s what caused this little nonsequitur.
I had taken advantage of my kidlet’s autistic traits by teaching her to recite lists (because, you know, what’s the point in having a toddler if you don’t teach them a few cute “tricks” to make them less tedious and more fun?). Among these lists were the answers to “What are the names of the planets?” and “What are the names of some green, leafy vegetables?”
She memorized both lists… sort of. At some point in reciting them, she got a few wires crossed and switched out “Mars,” for “Marstard,” and proceeded to consider the planet of Dijon to be first of many named after green veggies.
I never corrected her. I would rather pretend to live in a universe in which Cabbage is the fifth rock, than live in the real universe, where all planets are named after long-forgotten gods. It was another year or so before she figured it out herself, and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't disappointed when it happened.
No comments:
Post a Comment