Speaking Two Languages? It’s a Win for Autism

Multilingual households show better executive function skills and fewer repetitive behaviors in autistic children.

Multilingualism not only improves overall cognitive capacities but may also assist in alleviating some symptoms and improving control over everyday thoughts and behaviors in children with and without autism.

Parents of autistic and non-autistic children in multilingual households reported that their children had a better overall executive function, including the capacity to focus, comprehend the viewpoints of others, communicate, and exhibit fewer repetitive behaviors, than children in monolingual households. The study was published in the journal Autism Research ().

Autism Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prognosis
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder typically characterized by impaired social and communication skills combined with repetitive movements.

‘Speaking multiple languages improves focus, perspective-taking, and communication in autistic and non-autistic children. #executivefunction #autismresearch #multilingualkids #medindia’

According to the study's lead author, Dr. Lucina Uddin, a professor "speaking multiple languages turns out to be associated with better inhibition, better shifting or flexibility, and also better perspective-taking ability, whether or not you have a diagnosis of autism."

Multilingualism on Executive Function and Core Autism Traits

Conducted initially at the University of Miami, the study recruited more than 100 autistic and non-autistic children ages 7 to 12 from both monolingual and multilingual households.

Most of the multilingual households spoke Spanish and English at home. Parents were asked to score their child’s executive function skills, which are often affected by autism spectrum disorder. Skills assessed included:

Inhibition: the ability to suppress doing something irrelevant or get distracted.
Working memory: the ability to keep something in mind, such as remembering a phone number.
Shifting: the ability to switch between two or more different tasks, such as playing with toys and cleaning up after.

Parents were also asked to score some of the core abilities affected by autism such as the ability to understand different perspectives, social communication and repetitive behaviors.

Results from the survey found multilingualism is associated with better inhibition, shifting and perspective-taking skills in children both with and without autism.

Benefits of Speaking Multiple Languages in Autism

“If you have to juggle two languages, you have to suppress one to use the other. That's the idea, that inhibition might be bolstered by knowing two languages,” Uddin said.

Children With Autism Have Joint Attention
Joint attention plays a major role in the development of a child's play, social growth and learning languages, especially for autism kids.

Speaking multiple languages also positively affected some of the core symptoms of autism, resulting in improved communication, reduced repetitive behaviors and improved perspective-taking skills, Uddin said.

Uddin said there can be a concern among parents of autistic children that speaking multiple languages could contribute to delays in their child’s development relating to language learning. However, she said the evidence so far has suggested no negative impacts and possible long-term benefits.

Simple Eye Test Helps Detect Autism in Children
Autism in children can be easily detected using a simple eye test. Pupillary light reflex could be the best way to screen autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in young children.

“The big takeaway is we don’t see any negative effects of speaking multiple languages in the home,” Uddin said. “It's beneficial to celebrate all the languages associated with your culture.”

Reference:

Multilingualism impacts children's executive function and core autism symptoms- (https:onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aur.3260)

Source-Eurekalert