Community Service Providers' Views and Experiences Regarding Bilingualism and Autism

Background: Historically, early bilingual exposure has been thought to be confusing for typically-developing children at the early stages of language development and detrimental for children with developmental delays/disorders. However, substantial evidence now demonstrates that functional bilingualism does indeed develop in early childhood, and that it poses no additional developmental disadvantage for children with conditions such as Down syndrome or Specific Language Impairment. Until very recently, no research has specifically considered the effects of bilingualism on the development of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In the absence of such dedicated research, it remains highly likely that service providers working in multicultural communities are being approached by bilingual parents of children with ASD diagnoses, seeking advice around their language-use choices.

Objectives: This study sought to explore the current views held by community service providers working with individuals with ASDs and their families, around the topic of bilingualism and autism. In the absence of any published evidence base around this topic at the time of data collection, we were interested to determine the extent to which the issue of bilingualism and autism is of relevance to professionals from varying backgrounds, working within families with ASD in a multicultural society.

Methods: We have conducted interviews with community service providers working with individuals with ASD/their families, from various professional backgrounds. Recruitment was through targeted advertising across a range of service-provision centres relevant to ASD, in and around Melbourne, Australia. Semi-structured telephone interviews were undertaken with individual participants by a trained research assistant. Through use of a standard semi-structured interview protocol, we elicited individuals’ views on bilingualism and autism and descriptions of experiences arising around this topic within their professional practice. General personal and professional information was also collected and the interviews were audio-recorded to permit later review.

Results: Interview data-collection is ongoing at the time of this submission. To date, individuals from such service provision backgrounds as psychology, speech pathology, general education, and specialist early intervention have participated, and their contributions have confirmed our expectation that bilingual families are indeed seeking advice on language-use choices for their young child with an ASD. Following the completion of data collection, qualitative thematic analysis will be undertaken to explore the types of consultation sought from service providers by bilingual families, the practices undertaken by these professionals in attempting to address the individuals’ needs, and the broader opinions held by professionals around this issue. Quantitative analyses will allow us to further evaluate the extent to which opinions/practices might vary as a function of service providers’ different professional and/or personal backgrounds.

Conclusions: At this exciting time when the establishment of an evidence-base around bilingualism and autism is beginning to appear in the scientific literature, it is useful to explore the existing opinions held and practices employed by community service providers. Such knowledge will facilitate forthcoming attempts to disseminate evidence-based practice to those who are working directly with families seeking advice around language-use choices for children with ASD.