Being Bilingual may help Autistic Children, says new study

[AGXStarseed]

(Not written by me)

This could be life-changing


A new study has found that children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) may have an easier time switching between tasks if they learn a second language.

Published in Child Development, the study has found new reasons to believe that Autistic children who are bilingual have increased cognitive flexibility compared to children that are monolingual.

According to Professor Aparna Nadig, the senior author of the paper, from McGill University, this research has been a long time in the making.

She said: “Over the past 15 years there has been a significant debate in the field about where there is a ‘bilingual advantage’ in terms of executive functions.”

She continued: “Some researchers have argued convincingly that living as a bilingual person and having to switch languages unconsciously to respond to the linguistic context in which the communication is taking place increases cognitive flexibility.”

However, previous research did not consider the effect bilingual ability had on autism - until now.

Comparing 40 children between the ages of six and nine, with or without ASD, and bilingual or monolingual, the study focused on computer-generated tests.

Through sorting objects on a screen, the researchers found “that bilingual children with ASD performed significantly better when it came to the more complex part of the task-shifting test relative to children with ASD who were unilingual,” according to the study.

The findings may impact how parents of children with ASD teach their children


The conclusion is huge - and could change the way parents of children with ASD decide to teach their children.

Because it was previously thought that learning a second language would only make it harder for ASD children to learn a language, or worsen their existing language difficulties, the new research is a turning point in how children with ASD are educated - especially in countries where knowing multiple languages is commonplace.

The research is especially significant in Montreal, where it took place, because as Ana Maria Gonzalez-Barerro, the paper’s first author explained: “in bilingual societies such as ours in Montreal, speaking only one language can be a significant obstacle in adulthood for employment, educational, and community opportunities.”

Although the initial study was relatively small, the researchers believe the implications of their findings are huge and plan to continue the study by following the children over the next three to five years to see how they develop.


Source: Being bilingual may help children with autism

 

[Li Li]

I have heard of people changing their personality depending on the language they are speaking. I guess it is kinda true for me, I feel different about certain things depending on the language. So it makes sense that learning a second language might help children with ASD

 

[OlLiE]

i speak 4 languages,
i realised that i was different wen i was quite young,
i then learned that i was good at learning languages,
but i can't really tell if that has helped or not

 

[Progster]

I speak 4 languages too, but still don't find it easier to switch from one to another. I don't know if it has helped me to switch tasks in general. I'm still not very good at multitasking.

 

[Katleya]

I'm not surprised at all, but I'm glad there's now research supporting it.
Bilingual education has been shown to improve empathy in children (which would be a welcome benefit for kids on the spectrum), along with attention, among other things.

The one thing I would stress is how important it is that the separation between both languages is clearly established (such as in the case of 2 parents speaking different languages, one only ever speaking language A, and the other only ever speaking language B, with no language boundary-crossing that would be confusing for the child, or one language at school, and the other at home). It's also critical that languages are taught by people who don't just know the words, but the culture, too, and have strong ties to it, otherwise I feel it equates to cramming more info into the children's heads, and it's likely they would learn things that are wrong.

Here's more about bilinguism & children in general (not just on the spectrum), in addition to the initial article:
6 Potential Brain Benefits Of Bilingual Education
Studies Suggest Multilingual Exposure Boosts Children's Communication Skills

In my experience, I'd say that there was a difference between being exposed to different languages as a child/teenager, and the same situation as an adult. Exposure in earlier years has definitely helped me get a better grasp of the fact that points of view, outlook on life, and thinking processes could vary, and I'm not sure I would have understood that as well, lacking what I lack as an Aspie, if it hadn't been for that education.
I also feel it's made me more adaptable, and could be used as a way around alexithymia, because it does provide additional tools to express ideas. Missing the word to describe a feeling or something else? Might be able to use a word for that same thing, but in another language, and connect the dots from there on.

Then, as an adult, I can further analyze this and, yes, I do notice that it's not just my voice that changes depending on the language I choose to speak, it's actually my entire demeanor: one language makes me ruthlessly straight-to-the-point, another adds more gloom and rigidity to my attitude, another one actually turns me into an outgoing, bubbly person, another one forces me to pay more attention and has definitely improved any attention issues I had, and yet another one seems to be fit for therapy because of the overthinking it induces. And no, I don't have multiple personalities, there's just definitely some level of adaptation to the culture and overall behavior that's linked with either of those languages, which is rather encouraging in terms of seeing that personality doesn't have to be a straightjacket

As for the switch: yeah, that comes out of necessity when you do enough going back & forth, so it makes sense that children would develop it. I know I do, but I know my father doesn't, and he wasn't multilingual until his 30s; to this day, even 40 years later, he will change languages mid-sentence, sometimes several times in a row, and he says he doesn't realize when it happens, it just flows. I'm sure it's something that most adults can solve with enough training & immersion, though.