Yes, your child can learn multiple languages!
Parents hear many myths about communication development. It is all too often that parents tell me:
“Someone told us it would be too confusing for our child to learn our home language, so we try not to speak it in front of them.“
Fortunately, we know this is not the case! Research indicates that children with communication difficulties can learn more than one language (Beauchamp et al., 2022, Kay-Raining Bird et al., 2016, Tribushinina et al., 2022). It is my firm belief that children with neurodevelopmental diagnoses and/or developmental delays, should not miss out on the benefits of learning their home languages, which allow them to connect with their culture.
What are the benefits of Multilingualism?
Language is an important element of culture, family, and identity. It is important that children have access to the languages that will enable them to connect with all family members, and with their culture.
Bilingualism has been linked to cognitive benefits such as more flexible thinking (Bialystok, 2011).
Some bilingual children have been reported to develop stronger metalinguistic skills compared to children who speak only one language. Metalinguistic skills are strategies used to think about and talk about language (Tribushinina et al., 2022).
Bilingual Autistic adults have reported that being bilingual led to a range of positive outcomes.
This included their bilingualism helping to shape their social communication, providing better job and social opportunities, and helping them to understand other’s perspectives (Digard et. al., 2022, Nolte et al., 2021)
How can children be supported to learn more than one language?
Children benefit from regular and consistent input in both languages (Kay-Raining Bird et al., 2016).
Talk to your child in the language you are most comfortable with. This means they will hear good models of language which they can learn from.
Spend time talking, playing, and reading with your child in each language (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, n.d.).
It is important to remember that communication development looks different in multilingual children.
If you have concerns about your child’s communication development, contact us.
References:
Beauchamp, M.L. et al. (2022) “The influence of bilingual language exposure on the narrative, social and pragmatic abilities of school-aged children on the autism spectrum,” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05678-w.
Bialystok, E. (2011) “Reshaping the mind: The benefits of bilingualism.,” Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie expérimentale, 65(4), pp. 229–235. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025406.
Digard, B.G. et al. (2022) “‘the languages that you know draw the boundary of your world’: A thematic analysis of the experiences of autistic bilingual adults living in the UK.” Available at: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/km2du.
Kay-Raining Bird, E., Trudeau, N. and Sutton, A. (2016) “Pulling it all together: The road to lasting bilingualism for children with developmental disabilities,” Journal of Communication Disorders, 63, pp. 63–78. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2016.07.005.
Learning two languages (no date) American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Available at: https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/Learning-Two-Languages/ (Accessed: February 20, 2023).
Nolte, K. et al. (2021) “Perspectives and experiences of autistic multilingual adults: A qualitative analysis.” Available at: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/7kn9c.
Tribushinina, E. et al. (2022) “Teaching foreign language grammar to primary-school children with developmental language disorder: A classroom-based intervention study,” Journal of Communication Disorders, 100, p. 106269. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2022.106269.
