Autism and bilingualism: A thematic analysis of practitioner perspectives in the United Kingdom.
Rachael Davis, Farah Binti Mohd Zaki, Lesley Sargent
PMID 37518984WHAT IT FOUND
Speech and language therapists generally supported autistic children keeping their home languages, but felt unsure because evidence and culturally suitable tools were limited.
Parents often worried bilingualism caused delay. Interpreter access, resources and workforce diversity constrained practice.
Key findings
01SLTs generally supported autistic children maintaining multiple languages and would not advise against bilingualism.
02Despite supporting bilingualism, many SLTs felt unsure whether they were giving the right advice because evidence-based information was hard to access.
03SLTs reported barriers from culturally inappropriate resources and from interpreter access.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only 12 speech and language therapists, all based in England or Scotland, so it cannot describe the views of all practitioners in the United Kingdom. All participants identified as female and all but one identified as white, so the views of minority ethnic SLTs may be missing. One third of participants were bilingual, and recruitment used professional networks and social media, which may have attracted people already interested in bilingualism and autism. The sample was overwhelmingly supportive of bilingual environments, a view the paper notes is not reflected in some earlier research. This is a qualitative interview study of practitioner perspectives, not a trial or outcome study, so it cannot show whether any advice changed children's language, cognition, or family well-being.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the SLTs' support for bilingualism as evidence that bilingualism improves autistic children's language or cognition. This study reports what 12 SLTs said about their practice, not what happened to children.