Autism And Self-Talk: Why Do Autistic People Talk To Themselves?

Let's face it — everyone talks to themselves sometimes. Letting an obscenity loose when you hurt yourself is the most obvious example, perhaps, but we may also say thoughts like, "Oh, man, I'm not sure I turned the stove off" out loud, quite mindlessly and naturally.

Most of us have learned to keep this kind of thing to a minimum in public spaces, because we're aware that talking to oneself is considered a bit odd and inappropriate, and sometimes even "crazy". Others find talking to themselves helpful or soothing, however, and don't worry about what others might think too much.

1. Self-talk can help with executive functioning

Executive functioning is the set of skills that allows us to plan and organize things — like, say, remember what someone told you during a phone call and then acting on the information while still talking to them, or remembering you have a somewhere to be at a certain time, but also have to finish the laundry beforehand, and then organizing your time accordingly. If that sounds overwhelming, well, that's with reason.

Autistic people often, research shows, struggle with executive functioning tasks. Audible self-talk may help with this; saying something out loud helps you remember it better. So, if you hear an autistic person going through a mental to-do list or narrating the tasks they're engaged in as they go along, it may be the best way for them to complete the tasks they're doing. If they're just mumbling under their breath, and you've got no idea what they're saying, the same thing may be going on, and this, of course, isn't the exclusive realm of autistic people.

2. Self-talk can help an autistic person practice social situations

It's no secret that "scripts" — remembering verbal social formulas that usually work well with neurotypical people, and then putting them into action — can be a very useful way for autistic people to cope with unspoken social rules, and can offer a whole "bank" of phrases to use in particular situations. TV shows, and now YouTube videos as well, are a great place to pick these phrases up for many autistic people.

There's even research to back up the usefulness of practicing possible social interactions with oneself, though people would usually suggest doing this in front of the mirror at home, with nobody around, or in a therapist's office. Nonetheless, if you're neurotypical, imagining that you have a big speech to give to 1000 people probably helps you understand what's going on in these cases. You'd practice minutes before you were due on stage, no?

3. Verbal stimming: Mantras to cope with stress or anxiety

In Netflix's Atypical, Sam, the autistic protagonist, calms himself by repeatedly reciting the names of penguin species. Numerous real-life examples of the same practice are out there. A person on the spectrum may repeat a certain favorite quote, random phrases they've heard and like the sound of, or even sounds that don't have any meaning but sound comforting. This is a verbal form of stimming, short for self-stimulatory behavior. Other forms of stimming would include rocking, fidgeting, flicking hair, arm-flapping, and listening to the same song over and over again — but there are many other stims out there, too. 

Many non-autistic folks do the exact same thing, albeit perhaps a bit differently. They may repeat mindfulness mantras they've actively learned to embrace (meditation classes will teach you these) in a stressful situation, for instance, and singing to yourself as you're working really serves pretty much the same purpose, too.

4. Echolalia: Repeating phrases someone else has said

Echolalia means repeating after people, and young toddlers just learning to speak do it all the time — "Would you like a cookie?" might yield "Cookie" in response. This serves a few different purposes, as the child both practices saying the word or phrase and attempts to communicate. 

Autistic people, both children and adults, may also engage in echolalia. When it happens right after another person said something in the context of a conversation, that can't be considered self-talk, really, but it can give the person some time to process what was said and decide how they want to respond. The person may also be communicating, or they may be stimming, either because they are stressed or excited.

It may be a form of the social scripts we've already mentioned. Perhaps the phrase comes from a friend or a TV show, and the person saying it believes it fits the situation. Perhaps the person has accomplished a task and now repeats a phrase they've heard others say in the same situation, like "well done". Sometimes it even appears to be completely random. In this case, the person may be processing something. 

5. Role-playing is another possible reason for self-talk

Autistic people have a reputation for lacking imagination, but that's far from always true. Someone talking to themselves may be engaged in role-playing. I think this is considered perfectly appropriate for a child playing with, say, Barbies or action figures by themselves, but someone with a rich imagination can make do perfectly well without the physical presence of such props. I've heard that video games are a popular setting for this kind of self-talk, as well. 

In conclusion

We all run internal narratives — they're called thoughts. While many people have mastered the ability to keep these thoughts in their brains rather than sharing them with others through audible speech, it's really not that unusual to come across people mumbling the items placed on a forgotten shopping list to themselves, or expressing frustration about a lift that just won't arrive even though there's no conversational partner anywhere to be seen.