Multilingualism as a developmental asset in minimally speaking children with autism: A cross-national study of India and the US

Our study explores the influence of parents’ linguistic background on the social communication skills of minimally speaking children on the autism spectrum from India and the US. We found that having multilingual parents was generally positively associated with social communication skills in minimally speaking children on the autism spectrum. However, this relationship varied depending on the parents’ cultural orientation and whether the family was residing in a broadly multilingual society. These findings advocate for a perspective shift among practitioners and families to view linguistic diversity as a developmental asset rather than a hindrance.