Autism and Bilingualism: A Qualitative Interview Study of Parents' Perspectives and Experiences

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Hampton, S., Rabagliati, H., Sorace, A., & Fletcher-Watson, S. (2017). Autism and Bilingualism: A Qualitative Interview Study of Parents' Perspectives and Experiences. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60(2), 435-446. https://doi.org/10.1044/2016_jslhr-l-15-0348

Publication date: 1 Feb 2017 Added to AutiHub: 15 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)
  1. Sarah Hampton *
  2. Hugh Rabagliati
  3. Antonella Sorace
  4. Sue Fletcher-Watson

Abstract

Purpose Research into how bilingual parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) make choices about their children's language environment is scarce. This study aimed to explore this issue, focusing on understanding how bilingual parents of children with ASD may make different language exposure choices compared with bilingual parents of children without ASD. Method Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with 17 bilingual parents with a child with ASD and 18 bilingual parents with a typically developing (TD) child. Results Thematic analysis revealed that, in contrast to parents of TD children, parents with a child with ASD expressed concerns that a bilingual environment would cause confusion for their child and exacerbate language delays. This was particularly common for parents of children with lower verbal ability. Parents also identified potential benefits of bilingualism, particularly in terms of maintaining a close and affectionate bond with their child. Conclusions Parents of children with ASD have concerns about bilingualism not present for parents of TD children, and these concerns are greater for parents of children with lower verbal ability. Future research in this area should take into account factors such as parent–child bonds as well as communication and language development.

Bibliography cited by this reference

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 20 Sep 2026 01:01.

Cited references
39
With a DOI
34
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
4
0 / 39 (0.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 39 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
39 / 39 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
3
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
108
From DOI or external metadata
108
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
18 / 108 (16.7%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 90 / 108 (83.3%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
0 / 108 (0.0%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 0 / 18 (0.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 0 / 98 (0.0%).
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