Complains of repeating words that are spoken

[schwarting]

My 6 year old daughter has been complaining that every time someone talkes or she hears a sound, she repeats it back in her head.  It seems like she is describing an echo of sorts.  She has a very good memory and I bet this is why but now she says it is really annoying.  I wish I knew what was going on so I can help her.  She does not speak the words back to you but she hears them back in her head.  Can anyone help?

[Sally44]

It might be an auditory processing problem.  What is her memory like?

[SavoyTruffle]

I experienced that same issue as a child around the same age.  It was something I grew out of, but as I remember it was more than annoying at the time.  It was accompanied by some slightly obsessive behaviors, all of which ceased within a year.  Behaviors included constantly asking permission along with a fear of being disobedient.  I'm told now that such mental activity is common among gifted children.

I think it has little to do with memory.  If it is like what I felt, it is clear to the child that the voice is coming from within the mind (as opposed to it sounding like it is actually being spoken by some invisible person) but it is still a "voice" repeating either the last word or sound/word portion that was said/heard.

I'm glad to say I'm healthy, at age 23, and a college grad.  I wouldn't worry if I were you, as I had no mental illness to speak of.  I asked one of my UNC college professors about this once and he said that such mental activity is incredibly common and not to worry about.  Oh, and for whatever it's worth, I have a BA in psychology.

Maybe take the child in for psychological evaluation if it would relieve you and get an IQ test while you're there.  It is actually interesting for me to read about someone else having this problem, as it is a first.