The impact of bilingualism on everyday executive functions of English-Arabic autistic children: Through a parent-teacher lens.

Shereen Sharaan*, Sarah E. MacPherson, Sue Fletcher-Watson

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

There is evidence that autistic children may have reduced executive function skills, contributing to day-to-day difficulties, but much remains unknown regarding the influence of bilingualism. We investigated its influence on sustained attention, interference control, flexible switching and working memory, in Arabic-English autistic (n = 27) and typically developing peers (n = 53) children, aged 5 to 12 years old. Parents and teachers completed rating measures assessing children’s daily EF abilities. Results showed generalized positive effects for bilingual autistic children relative to their monolingual peers across all EF domains, but using parent ratings only. The findings indicate that bilingualism does not negatively impact the executive function skills of autistic children, and that it might mitigate difficulties faced on a day-to-day basis.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2224–2235
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume52
Early online date6 Jun 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2022

Keywords

  • Dual language
  • Second language exposure
  • Autism
  • Cognition

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