Mmm. The philosophical position that it's essential to be embodied in order to have intelligence seems intuitively reasonable but is very much unproven. You will find philosophers and cognitive scientists who are sure you're right, but they don't have much hard evidence, and you will also find people like me who are pretty sure you're wrong but likewise have no hard evidence.

In the specific remember that deaf-blind people exist, so if you're sure that you "need something visual or auditory" then those people are not, according to your beliefs, able to understand language. I think they'll disagree with you quite strongly.