Parental Talk About Internal States to Their Child With Autism

In this case study, all parental talk directed to a young child with autism at home over a 3-day period was analyzed for internal state (IS) language, which explicitly focuses upon the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of animate beings. The mother and father used IS terms in 33% and 24% of their utterances, respectively, with sensory and desire categories occurring most frequently. Rarely did either parent elaborate on the causes or consequences of the IS terms they used. Comparison of these data to the literature on typically developing children with the same language age suggests similarities in the pattern of IS language input. However, the overall frequency appeared to be lower. Implications of these findings are discussed.