WEDNESDAY, Jan. 8, 2025 (HealthDay News) — A multilingual experience may aid executive function and reduce symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children, according to a study published in the December issue of Autism Research.
Celia Romero, from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, and colleagues examined relationships between multilingualism, executive function, and core symptoms in children with ASD. The analysis included data from 116 children ages 7 to 12 years, 56 of whom were diagnosed with ASD.
The researchers found that multilingual children had stronger parent-reported inhibition, shifting, and perspective-taking skills than monolingual children. There was also a significant interaction between diagnosis and multilingual status on inhibition, with the effects of multilingualism being stronger for children with ASD than typically developing children. Additionally, there were indirect effects seen for multilingualism on perspective taking, social communication, and repetitive behaviors, which were mediated by executive function skills.
“These findings contribute to our understanding of the potential cognitive associations linked to multilingualism and offer insights into evidence-based interventions aimed at enhancing outcomes for this clinical population,” the authors write. “In particular, they suggest that encouraging multilingualism in the home could provide a ‘natural intervention’ strategy for bolstering some aspects of executive function.”
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