Reverse echolalia: a strange parrot

Today's nickname is "Blue Penguin Agent Secret"

It would be a very strange parrot if it wanted YOU to repeat everything IT said. That's what we've always had going on here, different than the usual parroting--if you can even call that usual. I swear, we are even atypical about atypical stuff. *Agent Secret* likes to repeat what people say, but much prefers if everyone repeats what SHE says. And lord help you if you don't.

Side note: my theory about echolalia--either standard or reverse--as being an autistic form of making eye contact is even more plausible now that I've seen it in our 3 yr old blind friend at school. Our blind friend is not autistic, yet she relies on echolalia to participate in a world that she can't see. She loves to repeat any word or phrase-- or encyclopedia page, practically-- with perfect pronunciation, but also has her repertoire of scripted stuff she says as a way to get the attention of whoever is nearby. For instance, she likes to count, and will say, "9, 10" to see if anyone is listening and if anyone will say it back to her. When someone repeats it back she is so happy and will continue the reverse echolalia, probably forever until someone puts an end to it. I believe it is like eye contact to her. And, I have just read on Wikipedia that blind children are also known to use echolalia, and Wikipedia knows everything, so therefore, my theory is sound.

Anyway, so, I'm always the one that is expected to do the repeating around here. But at 5am (that's the time dog and child force me to stumble around tending to their needs/demands), I just don't feel like repeating random crap. I just don't. I'm struggling to make my coffee and at the same time get the right food to the right critters, i.e., the dog food to the dog and not the child. Not until after one full cup of coffee can I utter a sound other than, "Hmmmm" or "Mmmmhhmmm" or "Hmmmm?" This went off like usual today, and at some point, after *Agent Secret* had said, "It's a chicken" or something like that, about one hundred times, I finally said it back--on autopilot because I didn't even know I'd said anything, and was startled by applause and congratulations, "GOOD JOB, MOMMY! Good job! Good TALKING!"

Hmmmmmmm....