Raising a family bilingual is a personal decision that can be complex—especially with so much misinformation around the benefits and disadvantages of exposing children to multiple languages.
This is particularly true in families with autistic children, since autism is a form of neurodiversity that impacts language development. Here's what the research says about autistic children who grow up with multiple languages!
What is autism?
Autism is a form of neurodiversity with two main characteristics: 1) social communication differences, and 2) focused, repetitive patterns of behaviors and interests.
Autism results from a brain difference that is present at birth and is estimated to occur in approximately 1 of every 100 children worldwide. It can look very different from person to person—and even within the same person across their lifespan.
Early in life, many autistic children develop language differently from neurotypical children. Many start to use words and phrases later in childhood than neurotypical children. They may also use language differently, including using more repetitive or unique sounds and phrasing. About 70% of people with autism use spoken language to communicate, while others may communicate in non-spoken ways, like by using sign language or assistive technology.
We are just starting to learn what these differences mean when it comes to learning a second language for people with autism—but the findings reveal some surprising benefits!
Myths about autism and bilingualism
Because learning to use language can be difficult for children with autism, people used to think that autistic children exposed to more than one language might end up confused or further delayed in their language development. As a result, multilingual caregivers were often encouraged to only speak one language to their child in those early years. There are also not many practicing therapists who are also bilingual, so many families faced additional pressure to only use the therapist's language (typically also the community language) with the child.
Contrary to this past belief, most recent studies do not find evidence of disadvantages for multilingual autistic children.
Monolingual and bilingual autistic children reach early language milestones, like babbling and first words, at similar ages, and they demonstrate similar use and understanding of spoken language throughout early childhood. Exposure to multiple languages does not delay language development in autistic children—multilingual children with autism look a lot like monolingual children with autism!
Surprising benefits of bilingualism in autism
In fact, being exposed to multiple languages may provide some relative advantages for autistic children!
Bilingual autistic children tend to be relatively more proficient at using nonverbal communication, particularly gestures, than monolingual autistic children. This is perhaps because different languages require subtle differences in the use of nonverbal cues, so being proficient in multiple languages may then provide more opportunities to learn these cues. Since nonverbal communication can be difficult for individuals with autism, this is a particularly exciting benefit to the multilingual autistic population.
Bilingualism may also support positive family interactions for children with autism. This is one of the main reasons families use multiple languages: Being able to speak their family's language makes it easier for children to form connections with their caregivers and their culture more broadly. This may be particularly helpful for children with autism, since using multiple languages with family members provides numerous and varied opportunities to form social connections.
Our languages connect us to each other
Approximately 25% of the autistic population is growing up in a multilingual environment, and most autistic adults from bilingual households feel positively about their experience of being raised bilingual. We still have a lot to learn about what it means to be bilingual and autistic, but what we’ve learned so far suggests that there are more benefits than previously recognized!
