Maltese Speech-Language pathologist Marc Frendo was recently awarded a Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree in autism by the University of Birmingham.

In his dissertation study, Mr Frendo explored the communicative functions of delayed echolalia in two boys with autism. Echolalia refers to the repetition of words, phrases or even sentences. Echolalia is traditionally divided into two types: the immediate form and the delayed form.

While the former happens soon after the original speech is produced, delayed echolalia is a repetition of speech that was spoken in the more distant past. It emerged from the study that both participants made more frequent use of delayed echolalia for non-interactive purposes rather than for interactive ones.

Although the study is of a small scale, it offers an interesting insight into why children with autism make use of delayed echolalia. Mr Frendo was able to read for this M.Ed. degree after being awarded the Malta Government Scholarship Scheme (MGSS).