Imaginary Companions in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Davis, Paige E.; Simon, Haley; Meins, Elizabeth; Robins, Diana L.

doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3540-y

Cited by 44 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…Invisible relationships may thus be specifically relevant to a subgroup of autistic individuals who experience sensed presence. Invisible companions are also reported in several other studies involving autistic subjects (Calver, 2009;Davis, Simon, Meins, & Robin, 2018;Holliday Willey, 2011;Visuri, 2018a).…”

Section: Literature Reviewsupporting

confidence: 73%

Sensory supernatural experiences in autism

Visuri

2019

Religion, Brain & Behavior

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This study examines attribution of supernatural agency in 17 Swedish, high functioning young adults on the autism spectrum, who describe sensing presence, feeling touch, and seeing visions without input of somatosensory stimuli. These participants report many more such incidents than the matched, non-autistic group participants, and current research suggests that unusual somatosensory experiences are prevalent in the autistic population. Attribution of invisible agency is understood as a sense-making coping strategy, and it is argued that esoteric content in fantasy literature, movies and computer games explain why these young adults prefer to attribute agency to ghosts, spirits and demons, rather than god(s). The study thereby extends and challenges the study of autism and religiosity by exploring the intersection between autistic embodiment and encultured cognition.

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Section: Literature Reviewsupporting

confidence: 73%

Sensory supernatural experiences in autism

Visuri

2019

Religion, Brain & Behavior

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“…Future research might also consider the role of autistic traits in the observed relations among ICs, AVH, and inner speech. Such traits are known to affect weighting of sensory information (Karvelis et al, 2018), although their relation to ICs is only beginning to be explored (Davis et al, 2018). Although there are practical difficulties with long-range longitudinal research, investigating the development of these traits and abilities over the life course would be highly desirable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaginary Companions, Inner Speech, and Auditory Verbal Hallucinations: What Are the Relations?

et al. 2019

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Interacting with imaginary companions (ICs) is now considered a natural part of childhood for many children, and has been associated with a range of positive developmental outcomes. Recent research has explored how the phenomenon of ICs in childhood and adulthood relates to the more unusual experience of hearing voices (or auditory verbal hallucinations, AVH). Specifically, parallels have been drawn between the varied phenomenology of the two kinds of experience, including the issues of quasi-perceptual vividness and autonomy/control. One line of research has explored how ICs might arise through the internalization of linguistically mediated social exchanges to form dialogic inner speech. We present data from two studies on the relation between ICs in childhood and adulthood and the experience of inner speech. In the first, a large community sample of adults ( N = 1,472) completed online the new Varieties of Inner Speech – Revised (VISQ-R) questionnaire ( Alderson-Day et al., 2018 ) on the phenomenology of inner speech, in addition to providing data on ICs and AVH. The results showed differences in inner speech phenomenology in individuals with a history of ICs, with higher scores on the Dialogic, Evaluative, and Other Voices subscales of the VISQ-R. In the second study, a smaller community sample of adults ( N = 48) completed an auditory signal detection task as well as providing data on ICs and AVH. In addition to scoring higher on AVH proneness, individuals with a history of ICs showed reduced sensitivity to detecting speech in white noise as well as a bias toward detecting it. The latter finding mirrored a pattern previously found in both clinical and nonclinical individuals with AVH. These findings are consistent with the view that ICs represent a hallucination-like experience in childhood and adulthood which shows meaningful developmental relations with the experience of inner speech.

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“…To our knowledge, only one study on imaginary companions in children with ASD exists. Davis et al (2018) found that a smaller proportion of children with ASD create ICs (16%) than in typically developing populations, although ICs in both groups serve similar functions (social support, comfort, etc.). Children with ASD also create ICs later in childhood and are more likely to interact with personified objects, which could be connected to characteristic delays in cognitive and social development (Davis et al, 2018; Gleason, 2004).…”

Section: Theory Of Mindmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Taylor & Carlson (1997) Older companion Nobby, a 160-year-old businessman who talks to the child in between trips to Portland and Seattle Taylor (1999) Personified object Hatch, a stuffed chicken that the child carries around and uses in stop motion films Davis et al (2018) Multiple/group Star Friends and Heart Fan Club, groups of preschool-aged human friends with whom the child had birthdays, went to the fair, and spoke a language called Hobotchi Gleason et al (2000) and animal imaginary companions are common, and many have the ability to speak to the child, along with special powers. Less common IC forms include superheroes, angels, and ghosts.…”

Section: Child Playmatementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Children with ASD are thought to lack ToM and demonstrate difficulty with false belief tasks, as well as with emotion understanding (Baron-Cohen, 2001). They are also far less likely to engage in imaginative play, which involves an understanding of social roles and scripts (Davis et al, 2018; Thiemann-Bourque et al, 2019). To our knowledge, only one study on imaginary companions in children with ASD exists.…”

Section: Theory Of Mindmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Review of Imaginary Companions and Their Implications for Development

Armah

Landers-Potts

2021

Imagination, Cognition and Personality

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A curious childhood phenomenon that has received relatively little attention in developmental literature is the imaginary companion (IC). Increased recognition of the importance of imaginative play and a desire to stimulate children’s early cognitive development makes ICs a particularly relevant topic. The significant prevalence of ICs in the population has permitted a modest yet diverse range of research investigating the functions, correlates, and implications of ICs for the children that create them. This literature review summarizes some of this research in order to describe the functions and forms that ICs may take, as well as social and personality characteristics of children with ICs. It also examines the role that ICs may serve in cognitive and social development, particularly with respect to children’s acquisition of Theory of Mind. Finally, this article addresses ways to integrate ICs into other aspects of children’s lives, gaps in the existing literature, and potential directions for future research in the field.

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Imaginary Companions in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Cited by 44 publications

References 44 publications

Sensory supernatural experiences in autism

Sensory supernatural experiences in autism

Imaginary Companions, Inner Speech, and Auditory Verbal Hallucinations: What Are the Relations?

A Review of Imaginary Companions and Their Implications for Development

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