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Discussion

Is there a name for this?

There is an older lady in my family who does this repeating thing that drives us all nuts. I'm wondering if its a condition, or that she's just quirky like that. Basically, you could say, "The onions are in the bottom drawer of the fridge," and she would say "Oh did you need onions? There in the bottom drawer of the fridge." You state something, and then she restates it immediately as her own idea. This is a constant thing at family dinners, out shopping one-on-one, doesn't matter where, she's doing it. She does have hearing aids (but truthfully she doesnt need them, she can hear just fine without them). Ideas?

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    • Featured Replies

    Could be many...

    1.one she is a native english speaker? If not reapeting the sentences she gave time to her brain to translate the words

    2.she could have a deficit of memory or one of understanding meanings of words

    3, could be a tricky one also.... giving her slef time to think...

    Oh did you need onions? LOOOOL

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    • Author

    Oh yes, she is a native speaker.

    And yes, we did need the onions. ;)

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    Did you say you have an older lady in your family who does this repeating thing that drives you all nuts?

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    • Author

    LOL

    Just wondering if we should be worried? It's gotten progressively worse over the years. Sometimes she just restates everything.

    IE: Joe: i saw on tv that they had a new cancer drug.

    Amy: Oh really?

    Older Lady: Did you know they had some new drug for cancer?

    It's constantly like this.

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    How old is she? Have you noticed any other changes in her?

    If she were a geriatric relative of mine, I'd have her screened for dementia.

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    There are mild forms of tourette's syndrome that can show up similarly. I have a relative with it who does the same thing. He also has one tic. He winks often. It's such a mild tic that I always thought he was just a funny, charming guy.

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    • Expert

    It does sound like something you should discuss w/her doctor.

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    Echolalia-ish but not quite.

    She needs an eval.

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    I thought I remember reading somewhere about milder forms of TS that manifests as you described.

    There are mild forms of tourette's syndrome that can show up similarly. I have a relative with it who does the same thing. He also has one tic. He winks often. It's such a mild tic that I always thought he was just a funny, charming guy.
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    It sounds like OCD which sometimes goes hand in hand with Tourettes. Does she have other anxiety issues? These things tend to be exacerbated by stress.

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    • Expert

    Another "weird" thing it could be is some sort of auditory processing disorder. I find it strange that she has hearing aids and yet you think she can hear just fine. She may have some auditory processing problems that she copes with by repeating to verify that she heard them correctly.

    Or worse ... she have a combination of problems. She may have started repeated things because of a hearing disorder or auditory processing disorder (2 different problems) and developed a habit of doing that all the time ... and now is having some dementia problems that are causing her to repeat things inappropriately.

    I guess it could be a lot of things -- or a combination of a lot of things. It sounds like she should be checked out by a professional to me.

    But in her defense, if she has hearing aids, she probably has a hearing problem. It's doubtful that she bought them for their great looks. It's a great source of frustration for those of us who are hard of hearing when normally-hearing folks conclude we can "hear just fine" because we are not totally deaf. Hearing losses and auditory processing disorders can be very complicated. Few people (including health professionals) know much about them unless you have made a special study of them and/or have lots of experience in them. The OP is probably not in a position to know the extent of her hearing needs.

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    • Author
    It sounds like OCD which sometimes goes hand in hand with Tourettes. Does she have other anxiety issues? These things tend to be exacerbated by stress.

    She does take an anxiety medication, her "nerve pill" as she refers to it. I can't recall at the moment which it is. The OCD thing does sound like a possibility, as other family members do have OCD like symptoms, but nothing full-blown and disabling.

    As far as "other symptoms," nothing really. She seems to get on these idea trips of things she should buy, that she doesnt really have the money for. All it takes is one of the family to find out, and we gently talk her out of it. (not sure if that's more-or-less growing up with nothing, now she's 70's-ish and doesnt have the fancy things others have)

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