Digard Bérengère Galadriel, Johnson Ellie, Kašćelan Draško, Davis Rachael
School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom.
Front Psychiatry. 2023 Sep 8;14:1250199. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1250199. eCollection 2023.
While research shows no negative effects of bilingualism on autistic children's development, due to misconceptions around both autism and bilingualism, bilingual parents and educational/clinical practitioners who advise them often express unfounded concerns that exposing autistic children to more than one language will cause confusion and developmental delays. To understand the reasons that drive these misconceptions, this study focuses on: identifying factors that impact family decisions about (not) raising autistic children bilingually; attitudes toward bilingualism expressed by the community, doctors, family members, and teachers; sources of information about bilingualism and autism available to families.
Through a mixed-method online survey, we explored these questions in 31 UK-based bilingual families with 34 autistic children (age = 10.6 years; SD = 7.1).
The families reported choosing bilingualism for their autistic child primarily so that the child can communicate with family and community members. Attitudes toward bilingualism in their networks were predominantly positive, with a large portion of individuals not having opinions possibly due to lack of information. Only about 1/3 of parents had access to information on bilingualism and autism, mostly found on the internet.
We discuss these findings and offer future directions for research, practice, and battling stigmas around bilingualism and autism.
虽然研究表明双语对自闭症儿童的发展没有负面影响，但由于对自闭症和双语存在误解，双语父母以及为他们提供建议的教育/临床从业者常常无端担心让自闭症儿童接触多种语言会导致混淆和发育迟缓。为了理解导致这些误解的原因，本研究聚焦于：确定影响家庭关于（是否）让自闭症儿童接受双语教育决策的因素；社区、医生、家庭成员和教师对双语的态度；家庭可获取的关于双语和自闭症的信息来源。
通过一项混合方法的在线调查，我们对英国的31个有自闭症儿童（年龄 = 10.6岁；标准差 = 7.1）的双语家庭进行了这些问题的探究。
这些家庭报告称，为自闭症孩子选择双语教育主要是为了让孩子能够与家人和社区成员交流。他们社交圈中对双语的态度大多是积极的，很大一部分人没有相关看法可能是因为缺乏信息。只有约三分之一的家长能获取到关于双语和自闭症的信息，大多是在互联网上找到的。
我们讨论了这些发现，并为研究、实践以及消除围绕双语和自闭症的污名提供了未来的方向。
