language confusion?

hi,

my 4 year old son is repeating the question i asked (echolalia?) like "what did you do at school?", but he answers yes or no to questions like "do you need a drink?". we are immigrant and we speak our language at home. is he just confused of the language?

[William L. Holcomb, Ph.D., BCBA-D]

Based on this brief description is it impossible to say what is going on with your son.  Sometimes there are functional reasons for repeating a question (e.g., people often do this when they don’t understand something and might be trying to make sure they heard correctly, as a way to get the speaker to elaborate, or just a kind of placeholder while they try to formulate an answer).  I recommend that you refer him to your local school district for a Core Evaluation to determine if there are any indications of special needs with his communication.  You also should check with your son’s pediatrician for his or her opinion on the whether there is a need for further assessment.  They will, of course, keep in mind that if English is not your son’s native language (and not the primary language spoken at home), there may be some delays or atypical patterns of speech.  I strongly recommend that you do speak with at least one of the professionals mentioned and not wait (there is nothing to be gained by seeing if “he will just outgrow” the behavior).  

Also, below is the website for the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (a National Institutes of Health agency).  There is a lot of great information about typical language development and some of the signs that should concern a parent that their child is not developing typical language.  
http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/speechandlanguage.html#mychild