Brief report: making experience personal: internal states language in the memory narratives of children with and without Asperger's disorder.

Tavassoli et al. (2012) asked kids to tell a memory from their life. One group had Asperger's. The other group was typically developing. All kids were aged 8-14.

The researchers counted how often each child used words about feelings or thoughts. These are called internal-states terms. Examples: "I felt happy" or "I thought it was scary."

Kids with Asperger's used fewer feeling and thinking words. Their stories sounded flatter. They told what happened but left out how they felt or what they thought.

The gap was large enough to be obvious to listeners. It was not just shy talking; the emotional layer was missing.

Bang et al. (2013) saw the same thing in everyday chat. Their autistic teens also used fewer mental-state words while talking with peers. Together the two studies show the gap shows up both in planned memory stories and in free conversation.

Taub et al. (1994) warned that autistic people rarely describe mood with words. Clinicians must watch behavior, not wait for self-report. The 2012 paper gives a clear reason: the words are simply absent.

Whitehouse et al. (2014) found autistic adults also leave out detail when they remember objects. They forget which color went with which toy. The pattern is wider than feelings; it is about linking any extra layer to a memory.

When you teach storytelling, do not assume the child will add feelings on their own. Prompt directly: "How did your body feel?" "What were you thinking?" Use visual feeling cards or color-coded story maps. Practice the same memory several times and require one feeling word each retell. Over time the extra prompts can fade.