The inner speech and visualization in verbal autism questionnaire: A study and preliminary validation

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Inner speech and visualization are crucial cognitive processes.
• Understanding these in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is vital for tailored support.
• Existing research on inner experience in autism is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the Inner Speech and Visualization in Verbal Autism Questionnaire (ISVAQ).
• To investigate differences in inner speech, visualization, and private speech between autistic and neurotypical individuals.
• To explore gender differences in inner speech within the autistic population.

Main Methods:

• Designed and validated the ISVAQ, a novel self-report questionnaire.
• Recruited 79 autistic and 81 neurotypical participants for the study.
• Administered the ISVAQ to assess inner speech, visualization, and private speech.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in the reported use of inner speech between autistic and neurotypical groups.
• Autistic individuals scored significantly higher on visualization compared to controls.
• Autistic individuals reported significantly higher levels of private speech, and autistic women exhibited greater dialogic inner speech.

Conclusions:

• The ISVAQ provides a valuable tool for studying first-person subjective experiences in verbal autism.
• Inner speech may not differ significantly, but visualization and private speech show distinct patterns in autism.
• Dialogic inner speech variations in autistic women warrant further investigation.