One of the issues identified in autistic kids is that they can struggle to switch tasks. They find it difficult to divert their attention towards new challenges and this can often affect their development and academic performance.
New research from Canada though has found a link between children who can speak more than one language and an improved cognitive ability. The study, which was carried out at the McGill University in Montreal, involved 40 children between the ages of six and nine.
They were split into four groups. Twenty of the youngsters were bilingual, with half of them suffering from autism. Twenty of the other children were unable to speak a second language and half of them were autistic. The children were asked to organise images of blue rabbits and red boats by colour on a computer screen. They were subsequently asked to sort the same images by shape, instead of colour.
The researchers found that ASD sufferers who were bilingual performed significantly better than their autistic counterparts who were only able to speak one language.
Although the number of children involved in the experiment is relatively small, more studies are planned over the coming years as researchers look to establish evidence that is more conclusive. The findings were published in the journal Child Development.
Referring to their breakthrough discovery, Dr Ana Maria Gonzalez-Barrero, co-author of the study, said, “It is critical to have more sound evidence for families to use when making important educational and child-rearing decisions.”
