Contrary to some common misconceptions, growing up with two languages does not slow the development of children on the autism spectrum. Quite the opposite! A broad international study conducted at the University of Fribourg shows that bilingualism can strengthen their communication and cognitive skills, as it does with neurotypical children.

Today nearly one in two children is raised in a bilingual or multilingual environment. Long seen as a risk to linguistic development, bilingualism is now recognized to cause no harm in neurotypical children, even to be beneficial. But what about autistic children?

Bilingualism and autism, moving beyond conventional wisdom
Children on the autistic spectrum often have a hard time acquiring basic language skills and around one third never develop spoken language. Afraid of “overwhelming” their child, many bilingual families are still encouraged to use only one language around them.

This choice does have disadvantages, however. Giving up on bilingualism can limit exchanges with the extended family, weaken social ties, and deprive the child of valuable cultural and social capital for their future.

A large-scale international study
To assess the real impact of bilingualism, Professor Stephanie Durrleman and her research group ABCCD (Autism, Bilingualism, Communicative and Cognitive Development) have studied over 400 monolingual and bilingual children between the ages of three and 12 years old, in five countries.

Cognitive and communicative development in children was evaluated through detailed questionnaires on exposure to languages and game-like tasks done on a tablet.

Clear and measurable benefits
The results show that bilingualism stimulates cognitive and communicative development in both neurotypical and autistic children. “In children on the autism spectrum, bilingualism is associated with better performance in a wide range of skills that are often challenging in autism,” Professor Durrleman explained.

Being exposed regularly to rich and varied speech seems to promote skills that are essential to communication and social interactions, like attention and the ability to adopt others’ point of view, gains that are maintained over time.

For other skills, such as understanding gestures or telling stories, bilingualism demonstrated no negative effect in autistic children. And in neurotypical children, a balanced exposure to several languages can even strengthen these skills.

Towards a change in educational practices
“Our results show that bilingualism does not harm autistic children but can in fact support their development in areas where the challenges are more significant,” Professor Durrleman summarized.

The data suggest encouraging multilingualism for all children, whether within the family or at school.

Wolfer, P., Tselekidou, F., Baumeister, F., Gagarina, N., & Durrleman, S. (2026). The impact of exposure to additional languages and cognitive factors on narrative macrostructure in autistic and neurotypical children. Journal of Communication Disorders. doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2025.106611

A public presentation of the study
The research team is pleased to present the results of their research at an event that is open to the public, all ages welcome. The event is scheduled for Saturday, 7 March 2026, from 7 to 11pm, at the Korso Cinema (15 Boulevard de Perolles), in Fribourg, Switzerland.

The program includes:
– a screening of a short film
– a discussion with a panel of experts
– an interactive exhibition, games and other activites
– refreshments

Registration: https://www.unifr.ch/med/en/news-and-events/agenda.html?eventid=18963

Contact: abccd@unifr.ch