Bilingualism and Children with Communication Disabilities

Can children with communication disabilities become bilingual? Will bilingualism exacerbate their difficulties or further delay their development? While there is ample data on the advantages of bilingualism for typically developing children, many professionals and parents are still fearful of speaking more than one language with children who have significant communication disorders they worry that bilingualism would be too taxing for children who are already struggling with language, or may further delay the acquisition of one or both languages. In this course, we will review the current research on bilingual children with communication disabilities, including children with specific language impairment and autism spectrum disorders. We will also answer frequently asked questions about bilingualism in children communication disabilities as well as offer perspectives from parents of children with communication disabilities from bilingual families. It is the aim of this course to dispel common myths about bilingualism in children with communication disorders and to promote family-centered and culturally and linguistically responsive services for children with communication disabilities from diverse linguistic backgrounds.