Study Finds Multilingualism Enhances Cognitive Skills in Autistic Children

A recent UCLA Health study further supports the cognitive advantages of multilingualism. The research reveals that speaking multiple languages not only boosts overall cognitive functions but also helps manage symptoms and improve daily thought and action regulation in both autistic and non-autistic children.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with marked heterogeneity in executive function (EF) abilities. Executive function components including inhibition and shifting are related to Autism spectrum disorder core symptoms such as perspective taking, social communication, and repetitive behavior. Recent research suggests that multilingualism may have a beneficial impact on executive function abilities, especially in children with ASD. However, there remains a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the relationships between multilingualism, executive function, and core symptoms in children with ASD.

Here, the researchers examined these associations in 7–12-year-old children with and without ASD.

The results suggest that multilingual children have stronger parent-reported inhibition, shifting, and perspective-taking skills than monolingual children.

Furthermore, they found a significant interaction between diagnosis and multilingual status on inhibition, such that the effects of multilingualism were stronger for children with ASD than typically developing (TD) children. Finally, indirect effects of multilingualism on perspective taking, social communication, and repetitive behaviors mediated by EF skills was also found.

“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,” said study lead author Dr. Lucina Uddin, a UCLA Health Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Professor and Director of the UCLA Brain Connectivity and Cognition Laboratory.

Hence the authors concluded that these results demonstrate the supportive influences multilingual experience might have on bolstering executive function and reducing ASD-related symptoms.

Ref: Romero C, Goodman Z T et al. Multilingualism impacts children's executive function and core autism symptoms; Autism Res, Vol 17(12). https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.3260