Perseveration
“Perseveration”
Definition:- Perseveration is the uncontrollable repetition of a particular response, such as a word, phrase, or gesture, despite the absence or cessation of a stimulus, usually caused by brain injury or other organic disorder.
This is another variation on “Perseveration” and how it can pan out in “adults,” maybe you might recognise a little bit of yourself, perhaps? A longish piece, but very worthwhile for a little personal insight.
To those who have grown weary of seeing the same title “England is evil,’ every day, I have a suggestion? Take the first letter that matches the name of your own country, such as M for Mexico and couple it with another word such as Malevolent. There after, chant in threes ‘Mexico is malevolent.’ It would help if your accent differed significantly, and identifiably from your country of choice. Ideally this should be repeated during every idle moment as well as any number of minutes when you are concentrating on something, or frustrated, or distracted. The phase can also be used both publicly and privately. Continue in this fashion for the next 22 days. Ensure that you are in Mexico when you say it. Ensure that you find a good translator so that everyone is sure to understand you. Ensure that the pitch, timbre and volume of the words is loud enough, even if their hearing aid is turned off. For variety, it can also be sung to any number of different tunes on random shuffle. You do not have to be on holiday or in unfamiliar territory to complete this experiment, but it helps. Once you have completed each and every one of these steps, then you shall be better placed to point a finger.
I would be willing to lay a wager, that even if you changed Malevolent to Marvelous, nevertheless it would still numb your brain cells.
Would that all the world’s woes were so tiny.
Non-verbal no longer, I am the luckiest mummy around.
Any takers?
Go on, indulge me, especially if you’re on one of those dratted ‘readers!’
Or maybe you might have an opinion about my future career prospects if we return to England? I’m thinking………exclusive importer and distributer of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers, or is that too self serving?
It’s nice to go away, but it’s lovely to be “home.”
Stumble it!
July 18th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Mexico es Malo!
Everyone has to have their catch phrase!
July 19th, 2008 at 1:30 am
England is Edible? England is Enjoyable? England is Effervescent?
Humm, I think England is Evil sounds better, but I am currently hating her timezone, which is causing me to have too little sleep.
July 19th, 2008 at 1:54 am
Hmm, for my brother, and us to a lesser extent, once upon a time that phrase was ‘halleluja!’ (we’re not religious).
In the house, on the street, on holiday in France, anywhere :). And my parents trying desperately to get us to shut up and explaining to us why. Which worked for the older two, eventually, but the youngest… (of course, he did very charmingly mispronounce it hallejula).
July 19th, 2008 at 3:05 am
Laughing out loud is such an overused expression, but what else do you say when you are literally chortling like a fool while reading?
After days on end of ‘I’m Boots the monkey. You’d be Dora” repeated in the exact same tone and intonation approximately every minute and a half, I’ve sincerely thought about hanging myself from the rafters. I figured it’d at least be in keeping with the theme .. ooh, look! Mama’s a pinata!
before we had real words for all this muck we used to say that she was getting stuck. when people ask (or sometimes when they don’t) i tell them it’s like a record player whose arm gets as far as a scratch and then jumps back. over and over and over again.
ah the joys!
to dora and the queen! (of jolly ole evil england)
July 19th, 2008 at 4:32 am
And here I was admiring your cohesive theme phrase! I suppose if you can’t get it out of your head, it’s bound to appear all the time…!
July 19th, 2008 at 4:38 am
“Australia is awful”
(repeats, repeats and repeats)
Now you’ve set me off…
July 19th, 2008 at 5:57 am
“Be careful what you wish for”… I am lucky that our echolalia wasn’t/isn’t that repetitive. Little boy uses it as playing/scripting and eldest used it (age 4)an example is simpler “look at the trees (insert something from the tv) they are big”. That was interesting for a year, luckily it didn’t last much longer.
But now he’s NEVER quiet. Rambles topic to topic, repeat the first topic… and it’s conversation, he expects an answer. It’s like a 3 to 5 yr old looking for attention, but more advanced. So I hope he outgrows it soon. 8yr olds are suppose to be needy for attention from Mom and 9yr olds more independant… here’s hoping
S.
July 19th, 2008 at 7:37 am
The United States is ugly! I don’t know does that work?
July 19th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Was quite ok with the “evil”—-what can one use to describe the US:
unruly
uncouth
…….
July 19th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Upbeat!
July 19th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I love that you put a postitive spin to things that can be frustrating. People who don’t have similar experiences may not understand and may point the finger as it were. Some of the people that commented on the England is Evil theme seemed to have missed the point entirely. Thank you for sharing your adventures and for doing it with humor and love for your children.
July 19th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Florida is fetid! (or foetid, for you Evil English Kniggits)
And yes it is, quite so. Mold R Us.
July 19th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Our perseveration of the day is “I’m a blue pooh bear!”
I have no idea why.
And Andy has decided its funny to say, too. So I’m getting it in stereo.
July 19th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Hello, Maddy. The putzim (plural of putz) have been out, have they? How much better off would we all be if the ignorant and uninformed had remained so to the point that they would have failed to learn how to type? Phooey. No such luck. Well, I love ya. (for whatever THAT’S worth).
July 19th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
My goodness, some people obviously have no sense of irony or humor do they?! (My uncle used to say “F-’em if they can’t take a joke!”)
Yes, you are a lucky mom. (Sorry, “mum” makes me think of big fat flowers!) And we are lucky that you share so much with us!
July 19th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Feral Queen, now almost 21, neurotypical child, would chant “daddy’s daddy’s dead”.
Over and over and over and over.
We still chant it back to her when we’re teasing.
Coz it.is.engraved.on.our,brains.FOREVER!
July 20th, 2008 at 1:40 am
” I like eggs” was said so much and so often at all the most bizarre moments…I nearly banned them from the house.
And just about every Karen Walker saying from Will & Grace has been flung about in all sorts of mixed company…
However, my favorite is him telling adults “you, my friend, are inappropriate”
thanks for another great read!
July 20th, 2008 at 10:23 am
How about Texas is tiresome…Georgia is great…Nebraska is Not for me… LOL!
July 20th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Double-slotted Fowler flap. Double-slotted Fowler flap. Double-slotted Fowler flap. Double-slotted Fowler flap….
I could go on and on. It does trip lightly over the tongue, if one has an aviation perseveration. It’s, like, poetic!
Snork!
July 20th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I’m keeping my fingers to myself. I completely empathizewith your level of perseveration. We spent several weeks being awakened to the melodious and very varied Pokemon languages - the higher pitched the better! Are you familiar with Pachirisu? Piplup?
And For what it’s worth, I found the thematic titling perfectly logical.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:32 am
I’m loving your England is Evil series. Our latest is not verbal but location perseveration. Asking to go to the same places over and over again…sometimes not even places he enjoys. Canada is cold??? Doesn’t really work in the summer. Cranky? Codswallup?