The Influence of Bilingual Language Exposure on the Narrative, Social and Pragmatic Abilities of School-Aged Children on the Autism Spectrum

Overview

Journal J Autism Dev Disord

Publisher Springer

Date 2022 Oct 12

PMID 36222993

Authors

Myriam L H Beauchamp

Stefano Rezzonico

Terry Bennett

Eric Duku

Stelios Georgiades

Connor Kerns

Pat Mirenda

Annie Richard

Isabel M Smith

Peter Szatmari

Tracy Vaillancourt

Charlotte Waddell

Anat Zaidman-Zait

Lonnie Zwaigenbaum

Mayada Elsabbagh

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

We examined the narrative abilities of bilingual and monolingual children on the autism spectrum (AS), whether bilinguals presented stronger social and pragmatic language abilities compared to monolinguals, and the link between narrative, social, and pragmatic language abilities.The narrative, social, and pragmatic language skills of school-aged bilinguals (n = 54) and monolinguals (n = 80) on the AS were assessed using normed measures. Language exposure was estimated through a parent questionnaire.Bilinguals performed similarly to monolinguals on measures of narrative, social, and pragmatic language skills. However, balanced bilinguals performed better on a nonliteral language task.Overall, results indicate that bilingual children on the AS can become as proficient in using language as monolinguals and may enjoy a bilingual advantage.

Citing Articles

Should Parents Only Use One Language with Their Autistic Children? The Relations Between Multilingualism, Children's Social Skills, and Parent-Child Communication.

Franco M, Costa A J Autism Dev Disord. 2024; .

PMID: 38809475 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-024-06347-w.

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