Do You Talk to Yourself?
Autistic children talk to themselves often and in ways that are similar to non-autistic children, a new study in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities reports and somehow I don’t feel too surprised about this. As noted here, Charlie definitely keeps up a constant stream of talk and verbalizations. He talks to himself, to remind himself and keep himself focused; as a self-referencing strategy. It does seem that he’s often got a song or line of music playing in his head; plenty of times he’s burst into song, and on key.
More about the study: According to Science Daily (which also reports on a study about private speech in preschoolers), Adam Winsler, an associate professor of psychology at George Mason University, has published the first study about private speech in autistic children. Winsler found that
high-functioning autistic children talk to themselves often and in the same ways that non-autistic children do. Talking aloud also improved their performance on tasks.
“Children with autism have problems with their external social speech, so psychologists assumed that their private speech would also be impaired,” says Winsler. “But this study shows that it is not the case—that autistic children use their private speech very effectively as a tool to help them with tasks.”
Since Charlie does definitely have “problems with [his] external social speech,” we don’t have a clear idea of what sort of language goes on in his mind. He has been learning to type—single words—and perhaps he might type to communicate, someday. In the meantime, I guess I’ll still be guilty of eavesdropping from time to time…………
Tags: asd, asperger, autism, eavesdrop, mother, Music, pdd-nos, private speech, talking, wordsRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Charlisms, Language, Music, Psychology
21 opinions for Do You Talk to Yourself?
David N. Andrews M. Ed. (Distinction)
Mar 29, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Hurray!
Vygotskian work in autism education! I love that!
Emily
Mar 29, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Absolutely, I talk to myself. All the time, and quite well, I might add. ;)
jypsy
Mar 29, 2008 at 4:21 pm
The 2 Aspies in this house certainly do. Alex gives me a funny look when I do it (I often find that happens when he and I are alone together in the car). I don’t notice Alex doing it *except* - when he ran across PEI on his Autistic Celebration Run he talked to himself pretty much non-stop the entire way. Because I was usually just ahead or behind him, and he talked quietly and often mumbled, I have no idea what he was saying.
bev
Mar 29, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Well, yeah!
mayfly
Mar 29, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I certainly talk to myself. When my father does the same, he uses his last name, I and everyone else I know uses their first. Kassie talks to her self, but not in any recognizable language. In the past people would have thought her demon-possessed, but I say she is talking with the angels.
Regan
Mar 29, 2008 at 5:11 pm
I would be surprised if anyone who can sequence and remember events would not be talking to themselves overtly or covertly, even if it’s not the usually accepted format.
Talking to oneself aloud is somewhat frowned upon by folks, but you know, if it floats your boat–great. When my husband asks me why I am doing it, when I do, I say, “Well, the plane of the conversation is better” (actually it helps me recall or rehearse). :-). When he does it, he say, “it helps me to think” (same thing).
Thanks for pointing out this paper!
Leanne
Mar 29, 2008 at 7:24 pm
I do it, and so do both my boys (one NT and one ASD). My husband does not.
Marla
Mar 30, 2008 at 1:06 am
Yes. M does this very well. She does it a lot when doing school work, puzzles, computer work and many other favorite activities.
When she was in public school she was often made to sit in a “time out” for talking while doing her school work. She was indeed talking to herself. Since it is a way she processes and I would often encourage it because it helped her and worked I was shocked that the school was punishing her for talking out loud in class. Even when I taught her to speak softly they brought it up during her IEP as a big problem. That was another breaking point for us pulling her out of public schooling.
If it helps her I want her to be able to talk all she needs. It crushed me that she was sitting in time outs almost daily and I was never told until months later. M still talks about sitting at the “special table” for “talking and that was being bad”. Talk about mixed messages.
TomsMom
Mar 30, 2008 at 8:57 am
The old joke is that it’s not talking to yourself, but answering yourself that’s the problem : - ) I do talk to myself–my husband does not–but mostly at work, and Tom talks to himself–in the bathroom! A lot! I have no idea what he’s talking about because I don’t pay any attention to it anymore . . . but it did kind of freak out his nursery school teacher (pre-dx this was) as did his resolute demand to use the same stall every single time. This is funny yes but there’s the dark side, as Maria points out, that the behaviors we Moms and AD cognoscenti take for granted are frowned upon and even punished in the “typical” world–if not by teachers, then by peers. Sigh.
KimJ
Mar 30, 2008 at 11:39 am
My son has an issue of not distinguishing when he is talking to himself and when he’s “having a conversation” with others. He’ll sit and be talking to himself and all of a sudden I realize he’s expecting someone else to answer.
He also blurs the line between talking to himself through his activities and talking to his imaginary playmates.
We’ve been working on getting him to distinguish these things because it gets annoying for all when he’s 15 feet away from you, with his back turned and he’s shouting something that doesn’t make a lot of sense and expecting an answer.
I believe he carries the same habit at school.
My husband doesn’t talk to himself but thinks so loudly that others can hear it. No joke. You can hear him think.
I talk to myself in a silent whisper, but I make sure no one sees me do it if we’re at home.
Emily
Mar 30, 2008 at 4:11 pm
KimJ, my middle son–not dx’d on the spectrum but with some just standard issue family oddities and ADHD–has the same trouble. We have a hard time distinguishing his self-directed monologues from monologues that we’re supposed to be hearing. It does get annoying, and it’s also just strange, because you can interrupt him in the middle of one of these when you register that he’s *talking*, and ask, “Are you talking to me, ” and he’ll say, “yes” and just keep motoring along, not even bothering to re-cap or acknowledge that the person he’s talking to hasn’t been listening.
KimJ
Mar 30, 2008 at 4:14 pm
“Standard issue family oddities”, you must copyright that!
Kristina Chew, PhD
Mar 30, 2008 at 6:56 pm
When I read the study, I kept applying the results to myself—-I have a constant conversation going on in my head, but not out loud. Plenty of “SIFO” in our family!
Emily
Mar 31, 2008 at 2:05 pm
We could write a book on SIFOs around here.
C
Mar 31, 2008 at 3:49 pm
I LOVE to talk to myself! Really, I am my favorite person to talk to - and pace. To pace and talk to myself about anything and everything is like scratching a hard to reach itch. My 5 year old Auti does not talk to herself but does enjoy a little pacing now and then, especially during meal time. And I am supposedly normal…
Bonnie Sayers
May 10, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Nick talks to himself often, but now with a cat to talk to and his zoo tycoon DS game he is not doing it as much.
vscreighton
May 11, 2008 at 10:41 pm
You bet I talk to myself! Living near a fairground with a 1/2 mile race track, affords the best form of leg and mouth exercise. Most of my life’s situations are reasoned out by my walking and talking.
There are times that I have focused on where I can be a better human and times when I see I am just fine as I am. If my talking out loud offends you….. don’t listen.
Talking aloud brings clarity to my thoughts..and helps me remember events I need to address. We all have thoughts running thru our heads, some of us just say them out loud…..
I suspect there are worse SIFO’s to be addressed .
SSG Ben Santiago, Jr
Sep 2, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I’ve noticed my 16 yr old boy pace and talk to himself a few times. He is still a bit uncoordinated and has a tendency to walk looking down instead of his head up or stragit ahead. He has above average grades and excels in Japenese but he is a bit sluggish with physical acitivities. I’m a bit concerned becasue his mother (the ex) suffers from schizophrenia and his older brother devleoped a psychois at about 20 yrs of age but had bad grades and drug use may have contributed. Should I be concerned?
Something(s) To Comment About
Sep 3, 2008 at 1:14 am
[…] father of a teenage boy asked this question in a post on talking to oneself: I’ve noticed my 16 yr old boy pace and talk to himself a few times. He is still a bit […]
Phil Schwarz
Sep 6, 2008 at 2:55 pm
@SSG Ben Santiago Jr.: This does *not* sound like anything other than a pretty mild set of Asperger traits. If he’s aware of what he’s doing and can self-monitor and avoid doing things that might single him out or put him at a disadvantage in contexts which are intolerant of them (but in which he has a need to function successfully — for example, employment), then there’s nothing to worry about. When he’s in less intolerant contexts, he has the right to be himself. The fact that he’s conscientious about the constructive things he cares about is a good sign and speaks loudest to me.
One of the truly unfortunate historical facts about Asperger syndrome and other forms of autism is the extent to which they have been misdiagnosed as “schizophrenia” or other forms of psychosis, resulting in utterly counterproductive treatment, confinement, abuse, and death.
The so-called “negative symptoms” of “schizophrenia” as defined in the diagnostic manuals greatly overlap traits commonly observed in people on the autism spectrum. Diagnoses of “schizophrenia” are supposed to require the existence of not just the “negative” symptoms but also the “positive symptoms”: hallucinations, delusions, distortions of reasoning-logic — but often such diagnoses were made in the presence of only the negative symptoms.
Graham Turner
Nov 20, 2008 at 9:05 am
Am worried about how much pacing and talking aloud my 16yr 0ld does - she is quite unhappy at the moment as she has trouble socialising and sounds very angry and troubled when she is talking. I am worried that it is not in fact helpful for her to do this so much.Up to now I have tried to allow her to do these things a home - she is aware that they will appear weird in public. I suspect she may be very mildly Asperger or ASD although she has not had a diagnosis for anything.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: