TY - JOUR
T1 - The impact of bilingualism on the executive functions of autistic children
T2 - A study of English-Arabic children
AU - Sharaan, Shereen
AU - Fletcher-Watson, Sue
AU - MacPherson, Sarah E
PY - 2020/11/26
Y1 - 2020/11/26
N2 - There is evidence to suggest that certain executive functions are impaired in autistic children, contributing to many daily challenges. Regular use of two languages has the potential to positively influence executive functions, though evidence is mixed. Little is known about the impact of bilingualism on the executive functions of autistic children, with only a handful of studies published worldwide to date. This study investigated the impact of bilingualism on sustained attention, interference control, flexible switching and working memory, in Arabic-English autistic children (n = 27) and their typically developing peers (n = 66), aged 5 to 12 years old. Groups were matched on age, non-verbal IQ and socioeconomic status, and completed a battery of computerized tests. Results showed an advantage for bilingual autistic children relative to their monolingual peers in sustained attention, and equivalent performance between bilingual and monolingual autistic children on all other executive functions. There were no generalized positive effects of bilingualism, and typically-developing children performed better than autistic children on all measures. The findings indicate that bilingualism does not negatively impact the executive function skills of autistic children, and that it might mitigate difficulties in sustained attention.
AB - There is evidence to suggest that certain executive functions are impaired in autistic children, contributing to many daily challenges. Regular use of two languages has the potential to positively influence executive functions, though evidence is mixed. Little is known about the impact of bilingualism on the executive functions of autistic children, with only a handful of studies published worldwide to date. This study investigated the impact of bilingualism on sustained attention, interference control, flexible switching and working memory, in Arabic-English autistic children (n = 27) and their typically developing peers (n = 66), aged 5 to 12 years old. Groups were matched on age, non-verbal IQ and socioeconomic status, and completed a battery of computerized tests. Results showed an advantage for bilingual autistic children relative to their monolingual peers in sustained attention, and equivalent performance between bilingual and monolingual autistic children on all other executive functions. There were no generalized positive effects of bilingualism, and typically-developing children performed better than autistic children on all measures. The findings indicate that bilingualism does not negatively impact the executive function skills of autistic children, and that it might mitigate difficulties in sustained attention.
KW - dual language
KW - second language exposure
KW - autism
KW - cognition
UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19393806
U2 - 10.1002/aur.2439
DO - 10.1002/aur.2439
M3 - Article
JO - Autism Research
JF - Autism Research
SN - 1939-3792
ER -