School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, Canada.
Autism Res. 2018 Dec;11(12):1667-1678. doi: 10.1002/aur.2023. Epub 2018 Nov 19.
Studies of bilingual children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have focused on early language development using parent report measures. However, the effect of bilingual exposure on more complex linguistic abilities is unknown. In the current study, we examined the impact of amount of language exposure on vocabulary and morphological skills in school-aged children with ASD who did not have intellectual disability. Forty-seven typically developing children and 30 children with ASD with varying exposure to French participated in the study. We investigated the impact of amount of language exposure, nonverbal IQ, age, and working memory on language abilities via regression analyses. Current amount of language exposure was the strongest predictor of both vocabulary skills (accounting for 62% of the variance) and morphological skills (accounting for 49% of the variance), for both typically-developing children and children with ASD. These findings highlight the central role amount of language exposure plays in vocabulary and morphological development for children with ASD, as it does for typically-developing children. In addition, they provide further evidence that, when provided with adequate language exposure, many children with ASD are capable of acquiring two languages. Autism Research 2018, 11: 1667-1678. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: We studied typically developing children and children with ASD living in a bilingual society who had varying exposure to French (ranging from bilinguals to monolinguals). We investigated the impact of amount of language exposure, nonverbal IQ, age, and working memory on their vocabulary and morphological skills. Current amount of language exposure was the strongest predictor of language skills in both groups of children. Findings indicate that when provided with adequate language exposure, many children with ASD are capable of acquiring two languages.
双语自闭症谱系障碍儿童的研究主要集中在使用家长报告测量方法研究早期语言发展。然而，双语暴露对更复杂语言能力的影响尚不清楚。在目前的研究中，我们研究了在没有智力障碍的自闭症儿童中，语言暴露量对词汇和形态技能的影响。47 名正常发育的儿童和 30 名具有不同法语暴露量的自闭症儿童参与了研究。我们通过回归分析研究了语言暴露量、非言语智商、年龄和工作记忆对语言能力的影响。当前的语言暴露量是词汇技能（占方差的 62%）和形态技能（占方差的 49%）的最强预测因子，对正常发育的儿童和自闭症儿童都是如此。这些发现强调了语言暴露量在自闭症儿童词汇和形态发展中的核心作用，就像对正常发育的儿童一样。此外，它们进一步证明，当提供足够的语言暴露时，许多自闭症儿童能够掌握两种语言。自闭症研究 2018 年，11:1667-1678。©2018 国际自闭症研究协会，威利期刊，公司。概述：我们研究了生活在双语社会中、具有不同法语暴露量的正常发育儿童和自闭症儿童（从双语儿童到单语儿童）。我们调查了语言暴露量、非言语智商、年龄和工作记忆对他们词汇和形态技能的影响。当前的语言暴露量是两组儿童语言技能的最强预测因子。研究结果表明，当提供足够的语言暴露时，许多自闭症儿童能够掌握两种语言。
