Recent research reveals that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who grow up in multilingual environments demonstrate improved cognitive function and reduced symptom severity compared to their monolingual counterparts, challenging previous concerns about language exposure in this population.
A study published in the journal Autism Research found that bilingualism may serve as a natural cognitive enhancer for children on the autism spectrum, potentially offering a simple yet effective intervention strategy for families.
Enhanced Cognitive Benefits for Multilingual Children with ASD
Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) examined 116 children aged 7 to 12, including 53 diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Among the ASD group, 21 children were multilingual, primarily speaking English and Spanish, though some participants also spoke French, Hebrew, Portuguese, Japanese, or Bulgarian alongside English.
The study assessed several key cognitive domains through parent questionnaires and direct testing, focusing on executive functioning skills that help with problem-solving, decision-making, and emotional regulation.
"The big takeaway is we don't see any negative effects of speaking multiple languages in the home," said senior researcher Dr. Lucina Uddin, director of the UCLA Brain Connectivity and Cognition Laboratory. "It's actually beneficial to celebrate all the languages associated with your culture."
Specific Cognitive Improvements Observed
The research team identified several specific areas of improvement in multilingual children with ASD compared to their monolingual peers:
- Enhanced inhibition: Multilingual children showed superior ability to avoid distraction by irrelevant stimuli
- Improved working memory: Better capacity to maintain short-term information
- Greater cognitive flexibility: Enhanced ability to switch between different tasks
- Advanced perspective-taking: Improved understanding of different viewpoints
- Better social communication: Enhanced ability to navigate social interactions
"It turns out that speaking multiple languages, whether or not you have a diagnosis of autism, is associated with better inhibition, better shifting or flexibility, and also better perspective-taking ability," explained Dr. Uddin.
Mechanism Behind Cognitive Enhancement
Researchers theorize that the cognitive benefits stem from the mental juggling required when managing multiple languages. When bilingual individuals communicate, they must constantly suppress one language while activating another, potentially strengthening neural pathways associated with inhibition and cognitive control.
"If you have to juggle two languages, you have to suppress one in order to use the other," noted Dr. Uddin. "That's the idea, that inhibition might be bolstered by knowing two languages."
This natural language switching may serve as a form of cognitive exercise, strengthening executive function in a population that often struggles with these skills.
Implications for Clinical Practice and Parenting
The findings directly challenge previous concerns that exposure to multiple languages might overwhelm children with ASD or delay their language development. Instead, the research suggests that multilingualism may function as a "natural intervention" for certain types of mental functioning.
For parents of children with autism who come from multilingual backgrounds, these results provide reassurance that maintaining their cultural linguistic heritage will not harm—and may actually benefit—their child's development.
The research team plans to expand their investigation with approximately 150 children with autism in a follow-up study that will incorporate brain imaging alongside cognitive testing to better understand the neural mechanisms behind these benefits.
Broader Context: Rising Autism Prevalence
This research comes at a time when autism diagnoses continue to rise in the United States, with current estimates suggesting that approximately 1 in 31 children are affected by the condition. Finding effective, accessible interventions is therefore increasingly important for public health.
The study's findings align with previous research showing cognitive benefits of bilingualism in typically developing children, but extends these advantages specifically to the autism population, where executive function challenges are often pronounced.
For clinicians and therapists working with multilingual families of children with ASD, these results suggest that encouraging—rather than discouraging—the use of multiple languages at home may provide cognitive advantages that complement traditional therapeutic approaches.
As research in this area continues to develop, multilingualism represents a promising, cost-effective, and culturally sensitive approach to enhancing cognitive function in children with autism spectrum disorder.
