multilingualism improves cognitive abilities

People affected by autism spectrum disorders show alterations in the ability to establish social interactions and communicate. But these difficulties seem less if the autistic child speaks several languages.

A new study from UCLA Health, published in the journal Autism Researchshows that multilingualism improves the cognitive abilities as well as the control of thoughts of young people with ASD. It also helps reduce certain signs. Beneficial cognitive effects which are not only observed in autistic children.

Multilingualism: improved cognitive abilities in both autistic and non-autistic people

To understand the impact of languages, researchers brought together more than 100 autistic and non-autistic children aged 7 to 12. They lived in monolingual or multilingual homes. Most multilingual households spoke Spanish and English at home.
Parents were asked to rate their child’s cognitive skills. They had, among other things, to assess their inhibition capacity. That is to say, stopping distracting or irrelevant actions when necessary. They also had to gauge their working memory or their ability to switch from one task to another. For example, playing with toys and tidying up afterwards.

Basic abilities affected by autism, such as the ability to understand different points of view, social communication and repetitive behaviors were also noted.

Analysis of the children’s responses and records showed that multilingualism is associated with better skills in inhibition and perspective shifting in children with and without autism.

Speaking several languages ​​also seems to reduce the main signs of autism. Which helps improve communication, reduce repetitive behaviors, and improve perspective-taking skills in autistic people. “If you have to juggle two languages, you have to suppress one in order to use the other. This is the idea that inhibition could be enhanced by knowing two languages”says lead author Dr Lucina Uddin in a press release.

Speaking several languages ​​does not disrupt children’s development

Many parents express concerns about multilingualism. They particularly express their fear that it will have a negative impact on children’s development. For the researcher, her work shows that these fears are unfounded.

“The important point to remember is that we see no negative effects of speaking several languages ​​at home,” assures the specialist. “It is in fact beneficial to celebrate all the languages ​​associated with your culture.”