Language Abilities in Monolingual- and Bilingual- Exposed Children with Autism or Other Developmental Disorders.
Speaking two languages at home does not delay language in toddlers with autism or developmental delay.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Boxum et al. (2018) compared the toddlers with autism or developmental delay. Half heard two languages at home. Half heard only English.
All kids took the Bayley-III language test. The team also measured IQ and family income. Then they asked: Does bilingual exposure hurt scores?
What they found
After they held diagnosis, IQ, and income steady, the bilingual and monolingual groups scored the same. Two languages did not slow talking.
The result held for both autism and developmental delay groups.
How this fits with other research
Iao et al. (2024) showed that joint attention and imitation drive later language. G et al. add that home language count does not block those gains.
Rojahn et al. (2012) found receptive language—not grammar—predicts daily living skills. G et al. say bilingual homes do not harm that key receptive piece.
Morrison et al. (2017) proved parent report matches direct testing. G et al. used both tools and still found no bilingual penalty, backing the method choice.
Scior et al. (2023) linked fine motor to sentence length in older kids. G et al. widen the lens: for toddlers, language input language count is a non-issue.
Why it matters
Tell families bilingual exposure is safe. Keep teaching in the language they use for hugs and bedtime stories. If a toddler has low scores, look at joint attention or fine motor—not the second language. Save your energy for real targets.
Document both languages in the assessment. No need to ask parents to drop one.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add a bilingual-friendly question to your intake form and stop advising families to speak only English.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Parents and providers are sometimes concerned that exposure to two languages will impair language acquisition in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other developmental disorders (DD). However, research to date suggests that language milestones and abilities are unaffected by this exposure. The current study explored language abilities in toddlers with ASD or DD exposed to one versus multiple languages, prior to intervention. To our knowledge, this is the largest investigation of language learning in bilingual-exposed (BE) children with ASD. METHODS: Participants were 388 children evaluated as part of a larger study on the early detection of ASD. Parents were asked to list all languages that primary caretakers use to communicate with their child. One hundred six BE children (57 ASD, 49 DD) were compared to 282 monolingual-exposed (ME) children (176 ASD, 106 DD). The Mullen Scales of Early Learning assessed nonverbal and verbal abilities. Multiple regression was used to evaluate the relationship of BE to language abilities, beyond the influence of nonverbal cognitive abilities, diagnosis, and socioeconomic status. RESULTS: Results showed greater language impairment in ASD than DD, but no main effect for language exposure group nor any interaction of language group by diagnosis. Results remained consistent after controlling for socioeconomic status. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that bilingual caregivers can communicate with their children in both languages without adverse effects on their children's language functioning.
Research in autism spectrum disorders, 2018 · doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2018.08.001