Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Inner narrative voice

I wonder if any of your children (or any of you) have experienced this...

DS7 has complained a few times that he has an inner voice that 'narrates' everything he does. I know that everyone has an inner voice, and when he first complained I assumed that this was something he was developing and he'd just get used to having an inner voice. But a few times now he has complained that this voice narrates his life, as in "DS said 'Hi", "DS is putting his shoes on".

He says this bothers him - he finds it annoying and distracting.

Is this normal (my inner voice does not do this)? Something he'll get used to? We're not sure what to do about it - if anything.

I think I did this as a child or at least a version of it. If I had to do something i.e. walk home from school, I would narrate the steps needed to complete the action as I did them. I'd often view myself in the third person and I think I said things to myself like "Eyre is putting on her shoes" just like your DS is doing.

Looking back on it I think I did this as a self calming strategy for when I was anxious - I didn't like walking home by myself and if I narrated it like a game or movie it helped me calm down and helped me feel like I was getting closer to actually finishing the task. Sometimes when I got home I'd continue doing it just because I was stuck in that mode. I did feel a little odd about it. I'd also narrate mundane tasks that I had to do. When I was totally engaged and enjoying something the narration would disappear because I was to involved to step outside of the experience and narrate it.

Not suggesting that your son is experiencing anxiety or anything. Just wanted to say I did this as a child and I did grow out of it.

I remember a bit but not to that extent and not in a way that annoyed me. Maybe try and find out whether there are worse times or triggers. Does he play alone a lot.

I still do this, occasionally, as an adult, although my version is less like descriptive video and more like a book being read aloud ("what now?" she asked nervously). I typically did/do it when I'm in the midst of something mindless and the colour play-by-play keeps me somewhat engaged. I couldn't say how often it occurs, because I only tend to notice it as I'm moving off auto-pilot.

It may be that your DS, having noticed it, is having difficulty not noticing it, which is adding a habit element to what is otherwise a natural process. Since it's annoying him, he might want to treat the narration like a habit and focus on consciously breaking the habit when he notices it. Maybe that will help him find a balance that still lets his brain talk to him as needed without bothering him.

I wonder if this is a manifestation of cognitive over excitability. I occasionally imagine my fingers typing random words from my thoughts. (Slow thinking/fast typing? )

Thanks for your thoughts everyone!

I'm glad to hear that he's not the only one who's experienced this. It does sound like it happens more when he's doing something not too exciting (like putting on shoes, or other similar tasks). Perhaps it is his brain just working overtime...

I did a bit of googling about children's inner voices and children hearing voices - sounds like it's quite common and usually nothing to worry about (unless the voices say distressing things).

I'll talk to him a bit more and try to find out when this is happening, what his 'narrator' is saying, and so on.
CoastalMom - it's a good point about noticing vs not noticing this is happening. Perhaps if he accepts it's nothing to worry about, he can just let it fade into the background, or figure out how to turn it of...


I did find some interesting links on theories of child development and learning by Vygotsky, eg:

Inner speech in general is thought to be useful and helps children learn (see Vygotsky)

http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_speech

Now that you mention it, I distinctly remember that I loved to hear myself count in my head and I did it as often as I could like when I was just sitting in the back of my parents' car while we were driving somewhere. I never shared that with anyone until right now, so, I think the fact that you already know that about your child is great and helpful to your family. I am not sure at all, but sometimes when I see Brick, the youngest brother character on the television show The Middle, I am curious about how he repeats words out loud in a low whisper - that seems almost like a type of narration to me, but I am not an expert on that point.

Yes, I did/do this. It's really annoying when I count, because my inner voice echoes the last word I said when I'm trying to move on the the next number.

It's worse when I'm anxious or feeling judged. It's a way of getting outside myself and looking at what I do from another point of view so I can improve what others see or understand. Sometimes *I* understand what I just did or said, but clearly my audience is just confused - the narrative voice comes up more then.

I've noticed two things help it disappear: physical activity that requires timely responses that are not repetitive (tennis, but not jumprope), and meditation (sitting in silence and making the thoughts calm down). In one, there is no time for narration; in the other, there's nothing to narrate.