Bilingual language development and ASD : A case-study

Abstract: Research into bilingual language development in autistic children is a new field and the number of studies published to date are very scarce. Around the world exceptional cases are being reported to support the theory that bilingual language development in autistic children is different to that of typically developing children leaving an obvious gap in knowledge. In this essay, a case study is presented of an 11-year-old autistic native Swedish boy with an impaired speech disorder who has developed a bilingual proficiency in English with YouTube as his only source of exposure. The study showed mixed results as when the tasks were performed Swedish was the reciprocating language. However, in the interview all replies were in English, even though spoken to in Swedish, suggesting a preference for speaking English when allowed to speak freely. Furthermore, this study challenges the notion that children with impaired speech disorders would experience even slower language emergence if simultaneously exposed to an L2. These findings call for further research at a higher level than a Bachelor’s thesis.