Bilingualism in autism: Language learning profiles and social experiences

It is estimated that at least half the world’s population is bilingual or lives in a bilingual environment, and theoretically, so does half the world’s autistic population. This proportion may be reduced, due to the common belief among parents and practitioners that bilingualism may induce a cognitive overload for a child with autism. However, numbers may also be increased due to the many autistic people who adopt language-learning as a hobby. Bilingualism impacts how our brain represents languages, but the influence of knowing several languages goes further, and changes the way people relate to others, and lead their lives. This is of particular interest in the case of autism, where social interaction presents many challenges. A better understanding of the overlap between the social variations of bilingualism and autism could unveil new ways to support the social experiences of autistic people.