Unusual Speech Pattern in 12 Year Old

by Carla
(MO)

My 12 year old son was diagnosed with autism at age 2 and had many years of intensive therapy and one would never know he had autism now.

However, he continues to have an unusual speech pattern where he repeats the last syllable of words or the entire word. It very much seems to be a processing issue.

I have Googled it and have found some sites that say it is a perseveration or self stimulatory behavior. I highly doubt that for him.

He is going into 6th grade, no IEP, no accomodations at all, straight A's, has friends, is a competitive swimmer, leads a completely typical life. His language is age appropriate. He is just out there behaving as a typically developing kiddo would except for this unusual speech pattern.

He just seems to have difficulty spitting out his thoughts smoothly. Especially if they are elaborate. He told me yesterday that a kid at school last year was making fun of him for it.

He also says he can hear that he does it but doesn't know how to fix it. We've never drawn much attention to it. Any thoughts for how to address it?

Googling isn't giving me too much information. Thanks!