The Impact of Bilingualism on Everyday Executive Functions of English-Arabic Autistic Children: Through a Parent-Teacher Lens

Abstract

There is evidence that autistic children may have reduced executive function skills, contributing to day-to-day difficulties, but much remains unknown regarding the influence of bilingualism. We investigated its influence on sustained attention, interference control, flexible switching and working memory, in Arabic-English autistic (n = 27) and typically developing peers (n = 53) children, aged 5 to 12 years old. Parents and teachers completed rating measures assessing children’s daily EF abilities. Results showed generalized positive effects for bilingual autistic children relative to their monolingual peers across all EF domains, but using parent ratings only. The findings indicate that bilingualism does not negatively impact the executive function skills of autistic children, and that it might mitigate difficulties faced on a day-to-day basis.

Examining Bilingual Neurodiversity in Development: Recent Insights Through an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Lens

“…Mixed reports of positive effects and no difference were found in both performance-based n-back tasks, global-local tasks, Flanker task 51,[53][54][55][56]58,62,63,66,69 and in parentreported assessments (e.g. Behavioural Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Parent) 50,51,60,64,66,67 . Some differences were only evident in combination with other factors; low socioeconomic status (SES) bilingual children with ASD had better performance than monolinguals across both the verbal and nonverbal intelligence subtests, but the opposite effect for high SES children was seen 70 .…”

“…Cognitive abilities of bilingual children with ASD showed the starkest differences. While cognitive impairment is present in children with ASD and attentional disorders, many studies reported positive effects of bilingualism in areas of sustained attention 63,64 , flexibility, setshifting 65,66 , working memory, updating and false-belief 54,55 , fewer executive 60,67 and attentionrelated deficits 68 . Mixed reports of positive effects and no difference were found in both performance-based n-back tasks, global-local tasks, Flanker task 51,[53][54][55][56]58,62,63,66,69 and in parentreported assessments (e.g.…”

Bilingualism effects on cognition in autistic children are not all-or-nothing: The role of socioeconomic status in intellectual skills in bilingual autistic children

“…This paucity in research is troubling for two reasons. First, a sizable subset of children with a diagnosis of autism is growing up bilingual (Hambly & Fombonne, 2012), as this is the case for at least half of the world’s population (Saville-Troike, 2006); and, second, the experience of dual language exposure has been found to significantly modulate the cognitive functioning of children with autism (Gonzalez-Barrero & Nadig, 2017; Peristeri et al, 2020; Peristeri, Vogelzang, & Tsimpli, 2021; Peristeri, Baldimtsi, et al, 2021; Ratto et al, 2020; Sharaan et al, 2020, 2021). The current study examined the intelligence profiles of 316 bilingual and gender- and age-matched monolingual children with autism using the WISC–Third Edition (WISC-III), tracked cluster profiles across groups, and modeled intellectual functioning in each cluster as a function of language experience (monolingualism vs bilingualism), socioeconomic status (SES), and age.…”

“…Although monolingual children with autism are a “good” fit for identifying subtypes in the autistic spectrum, bilingualism poses additional challenges given the unique cognitive profile of these children. More specifically, bilingual experience in autistic children has been found to positively modulate their cognition by enhancing executive function and theory-of-mind skills (for executive functions, see Gonzalez-Barrero & Nadig, 2017; Iarocci et al, 2017; Peristeri et al, 2020; Ratto et al, 2020; Sharaan et al, 2020, 2021, for theory-of-mind, see Peristeri, Baldimtsi, et al, 2021). Bilingualism may even mitigate autism-related deficits, such as hyper-attention to detail (Peristeri et al, 2020), sustained attention (Sharaan et al, 2020), and cognitive inflexibility (Gonzalez-Barrero & Nadig, 2017; Peristeri, Vogelzang, & Tsimpli, 2021).…”

Teacher and Parents Persuasion of use of Picture Exchange Communication System to improve Attention Span for Autistic Students in Abu Dhabi Autism Center

“…Children with autism or very limited speaking ability can exert influence over their circumstances by making desired requests. Using picture cards, PECS teaches youngsters how to request goods or activities [29]. Individuals can be taught to use improvisation to improve the efficacy of visual communication systems.…”