SummaryThis paper seeks to show that perseveratingimmediateecholalia (echophrasia) in children suffering from early infantile psychoses, especially Autism, is a deviant form of noted normal language development and that the key to its progressive eradication in therapy is in the condition itself SEEN AS A NECESSARY STAGE OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. Case notes and observations support the ideas put forward. It is not claimed that deeper seated disorders in Autism are in any way solved by this therapy but that it effectively allows them to be reached by other therapies and techniques that rely on language.