RESEARCH in the North East has identified a way that could help people with autism improve their condition.

A study led by Durham University found that if children with the condition were encouraged to “talk things through in their head” when solving complex everyday tasks then it would help improve their communication skills.

It was identified that the method of “inner speech” is used in children with autism but not always in the same way as typically developing children do.

The team of psychologists found that the use, or lack of, thinking in words is strongly linked to the extent of someone’s communication impairments which are rooted in early childhood.

As a result the team have suggested that by encouraging inner speech in people with autism it would help them to better express themselves verbally in later life.

Dr David Williams, lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Durham University, said: “In all autism research this is a small step forward. It is a promising avenue in one piece of a big puzzle in understanding the condition.

“These results show that inner speech has its roots in interpersonal communication with others early in life, and it demonstrates that people who are poor at communicating with others will generally be poor at communicating with themselves.

“It also shows that there is a critical distinction between being able to express yourself verbally and actually using silent language for problem-solving.”

In the study, 15 high-functioning adults with the condition and 16 comparison participants were asked to complete a commonly used task which measures planning ability. The task consists of five coloured disks that can be arranged on three individual pegs.

The aim of the task is to transform one arrangement of disks into another by moving the disks between the pegs, one disk at a time, in as few moves as possible. This type of complex planning task is helped by ‘talking to yourself in your head’.

The participants did the task under normal conditions as well as a condition whereby they had to repeat out loud a certain word throughout the task. The results showed that whilst almost 90% of normally developing adults did significantly worse on the task when asked to repeat the word, only a third of people with autism were in any way negatively affected by speaking out load during the task.

This suggests that, unlike neurotypical adults, participants with autism do not normally use inner speech to help themselves plan.

Caroline Hattersley, head of Information, Advice and Advocacy at the National Autistic Society, said: “This study presents some interesting results and could further our understanding of autism.

“If the findings are replicated on a wider scale they could have a significant impact on how we develop strategies to support children with the disability.”

Autism affects approximately 67 million people worldwide. Children with autism often miss out on the early communicative exchanges when they are young which may explain their tendency not to use inner speech when they are older.

It is believed this relative lack of inner speech use might contribute to some of the repetitive behaviours which are common in people with the condition.