Raising Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Monolingual vs Bilingual Homes: A Scoping Review

Wang, Michelle; Jegathesan, Thivia; Young, Elizabeth; Huber, Johannes; Minhas, Ripudaman

doi:10.1097/dbp.0000000000000574

Cited by 50 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Research on the effects of raising a child with ASD in a bilingual environment is emerging; still, the majority of studies have focused on examining only language outcomes. Current literature demonstrates that infants with ASD, even those with intellectual disability, can acquire second language vocabulary (Hambly & Fombonne, 2014;Wang et al, 2018). Current literature also demonstrates that at school-age, 6-9-year-old children with ASD can become proficient bilinguals and follow similar language development patterns as typically developing bilingual children (Gonzalez-Barrero & Nadig, 2019).…”

Section: Bilingualism In Children With Asdmentioning

confidence: 98%

Bilingualism, Executive Function, and the Brain: Implications for Autism

Romero

Uddin

2021

Neurobiology of Language

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with marked heterogeneity with respect to the development of executive function abilities. The ‘bilingual advantage’ refers to the observation that individuals who speak two languages perform better on executive function tasks than monolinguals under some circumstances. There is not yet consensus, however, as to whether this advantage can be reliably demonstrated, nor is there consensus regarding under which conditions it emerges. Bilingual and monolingual children with ASD have comparable developmental outcomes, particularly in the areas of core ASD symptoms, cognitive function, and language. Still, despite the potential advantages that bilingualism may confer, clinicians commonly advise against providing a bilingual environment for children with ASD. The purpose of the present review is to provide an up-to-date assessment of the limited literature on bilingualism in children with ASD in order to inform evidence-based practice. Studies suggest a potential bilingual advantage in ASD in the areas of nonverbal intelligence quotient, adaptive functioning, and expressive vocabulary. A limited yet growing literature provides preliminary evidence for enhanced executive function ability in some children with ASD. Taken together, current evidence suggests that although a ‘bilingual advantage’ may not be universally present in typical development, it may manifest under specific circumstances, conferring advantage for populations in which executive function is compromised. Further work is needed to develop consistent, evidence-based guidelines around language recommendations for families of children with ASD and to better understand the cognitive and brain mechanisms giving rise to the bilingual advantage in clinical developmental populations.

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Section: Bilingualism In Children With Asdmentioning

confidence: 98%

Bilingualism, Executive Function, and the Brain: Implications for Autism

Romero

Uddin

2021

Neurobiology of Language

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“…Research to date indicates that at worst bilingual exposure in children with ASD has no effect on language development and at best offers advantages on adaptive functioning, social communication, and receptive language (see Wang et al 3 for an in-depth review). Valicenti-McDermott et al 5 found that toddlers with ASD and bilingual exposure made increased attempts to communicate through gestures, cooing, and engaging in pretend play compared with their monolingual peers.…”

Section: Similarly Across Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…9 In addition, as has been reported for bilingual typically developing youngsters, bilingual children with ASD showed advantages on set-shifting tasks in cognitive tests. 3 However, as none of these advantages are consistently reported across the literature, the accepted view is that bilingual exposure in children with ASD has no detrimental effect on the child.…”

Section: Similarly Across Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Assessing outcomes beyond childhood where cultural and societal aspects of bilingualism play a critical role is an important gap in the literature. 3,6 Studies have found that for bilingual families, maintaining the parental native language as the home language facilitates cross-generational relationships, helps preserve cultural heritage, and supports a cohesive family relationship. 7,9 As such, by limiting exposure to the parental native language in children with ASD, additional communication barriers could be created.…”

Section: Lifelong Sociocultural Implications Are Understudiedmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bilingualism in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Finding Meaning in Translation

Trelles

Castro

2019

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psych

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In the United States, 12 million children primarily speak a language other than English at home. 1 This represents about one in four children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) being raised in a bilingual environment. The old notion that bilingualism could "confuse" a child has long been refuted by a large body of research that suggests quite the opposite. 2 As early as infancy, persons in a bilingual environment show advantages in certain cognitive tasks. 3 Furthermore, there is evidence that bilingual persons perform better on tasks indicative of social understanding stemming from the ability to navigate the intricacies of more than one culture. Nevertheless, whether these advantages also apply to children with ASD remains a controversial topic. 4 Children with ASD present with communication skill deficits that affect structural and functional components of language development. 3 Furthermore, by having a social communication disorder, they have fewer opportunities to learn and practice language skills. Advocates of restricting multiple language exposure believe that being raised in a multilingual environment could worsen communication issues inherent to ASD. 4,5 Studies to date suggest that bilingualism has no negative effect on language development in ASD. However, research in this area is limited, often lacks a monolingual comparison group, and is mostly restricted to early language acquisition. 3,5 In addition, there is no clear consensus from professional organizations in the field; speech pathologists, health care professionals, and education specialists often provide conflicting views and recommendations for bilingual exposure in ASD. 3,6-8 In an effort to address disparities in autism, our Center has made a focused effort to improve recruitment of ethnically diverse populations for research participation. As such, over the past 2 years, we have conducted a large number of clinical research evaluations in bilingual and immigrant families raising children with ASD. Through this work, it has become clear to us that caregivers are often left, many times at a high emotional cost, with the difficult Correspondence to M.

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“…Research assessing executive functions, social cognition and language abilities of autistic people suggest no detrimental effects of bilingualism (e.g., Beauchamp and MacLeod, 2017 ), and some preliminary indications of positive effects (e.g., Valicenti-McDermott et al, 2013 ; Gonzalez-Barrero and Nadig, 2019 ; Montgomery et al, 2021 ), though more research is needed to quantify these claims. A detailed overview of the cognitive literature is outside the scope of this commentary, but see Drysdale et al ( 2015 ) and Wang et al ( 2018 ) for systematic reviews of this research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autistic People's Access to Bilingualism and Additional Language Learning: Identifying the Barriers and Facilitators for Equal Opportunities

2021

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Bilingualism is a valuable tool that enriches and facilitates cultural, social and lived experiences for autistic and non-autistic people alike. Research consistently finds no negative effects of bilingualism and highlights the potential for positive effects across cognitive and socio-cultural domains for autistic and non-autistic children. Yet parents of autistic children remain concerned that bilingualism will cause delays in both cognitive and language development and are still frequently advised by practitioners to raise their child monolingually. Evidently, findings from research are not reflected in practice or subsequent advice, and it is essential to identify ways to ensure equal access to additional language learning. We briefly summarise the existing literature on bilingualism and autism, considering perspectives from the bilingual autistic community, and experimental research. We identify the most pertinent barriers to participation for autistic bilingual children in terms of familial, clinical and educational perspectives. We propose novel solutions to promote additional language learning and suggest changes to practice that will contribute to an evidence base for families and practitioners. This commentary makes innovative recommendations at both the individual and societal level to ensure that autistic bilingual people have equal rights and opportunities to language learning and are optimally supported in accessing them.

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Raising Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Monolingual vs Bilingual Homes: A Scoping Review

Abstract: There is no evidence of a detrimental effect of raising children with ASDs in a bilingual home.

Cited by 50 publications

References 21 publications

Bilingualism, Executive Function, and the Brain: Implications for Autism

Bilingualism, Executive Function, and the Brain: Implications for Autism

Bilingualism in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Finding Meaning in Translation

Autistic People's Access to Bilingualism and Additional Language Learning: Identifying the Barriers and Facilitators for Equal Opportunities

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