The Impact of Bilingualism on Social Attentional Preferences in Autistic Children (Preprint)

Abstract

Research suggests that autistic children show reduced attentional preferences to social stimuli early in development, and these differences have consequences in a range of social and language domains. One factor that could positively influence development in those same processes is dual language exposure. Although there are a handful of studies focusing on the impact of bilingualism on language and executive functions in autistic children, no research to date has focused on the relationship with social attention and cognition. This study investigated the impact of bilingual exposure on social attention in autistic children (n = 33) and their neurotypical peers (n = 42). Children completed a previously validated eye-tracking task in which visual attention (dwell time) to interacting versus non-interacting human figures was measured, and correlations between social attention preference and broader social and language skills were conducted. Contrary to previous research, patterns of visual attention did not distinguish autistic and neurotypical children, with both groups showing a preference for interacting figures. Although direct effects of bilingual exposure were not found, it is possible that this finding was driven by compensatory effects of bilingual exposure. Correlations between social attention and social skills were observed.