A new study from UCLA Health adds to the growing body of evidence on the cognitive benefits of speaking multiple languages, revealing that multilingualism not only improves general cognitive abilities, but may also help reduce certain symptoms and strengthen thought control and daily actions in children with and without autism.
The study, published in the journal Autism researchfound that parents of autistic and non-autistic children living in multilingual households reported that their children had stronger overall executive function, including the ability to concentrate, understand others’ points of view, communication, and reduced levels of repetitive behaviors, compared to children living in monolingual households.
It turns out that speaking multiple languages, whether or not you have an autism diagnosis, is associated with better inhibition, better movement or flexibility, and a better ability to take perspective. »
Dr. Lucina Uddin, lead study author, professor of health psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA and director of the UCLA Brain Connectivity and Cognition Laboratory
Initially conducted at the University of Miami, the study recruited more than 100 autistic and non-autistic children ages 7 to 12 from monolingual and multilingual households. Most multilingual households spoke Spanish and English at home. Parents were asked to rate their child’s executive function abilities, which are often affected by autism spectrum disorder. The skills assessed included:
Parents were also asked to rate some of the key abilities affected by autism, such as the ability to understand different perspectives, social communication and repetitive behaviors.
Survey results revealed that multilingualism is associated with better inhibition, perspective-shifting, and perspective-taking skills in both autistic and non-autistic children.
“If you have to juggle two languages, you have to remove one in order to use the other. It’s the idea that inhibition can be enhanced by knowing two languages,” Uddin said.
Speaking multiple languages also had a positive effect on some of the core symptoms of autism, leading to better communication, a reduction in repetitive behaviors and improved perspective-taking skills, Uddin said.
Uddin said parents of autistic children may worry that speaking multiple languages could contribute to delays in their child’s development when it comes to language learning. However, she said the evidence so far does not suggest any negative impacts or possible long-term benefits.
“The takeaway is that we don’t see any negative effects of speaking multiple languages at home,” Uddin said. “It’s actually beneficial to celebrate all the languages associated with your culture. »
From these results, Uddin expands the study and addresses limitations. The new study will recruit about 150 children with autism and include more tests of executive functions and language as well as brain imaging.
