Bilingual Research Journal
Volume 34, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 185-200

Multilingual development in children with autism: Perspectives of South Asian Muslim immigrant parents on raising a child with a communicative disorder in multilingual contexts (Article)

Jegatheesan B.*
  • a Department of Educational Psychology, University of Washington, 322 F Miller, Box 353600, Seattle, WA 98195-3600, United States

Abstract

This study examined the perceptions of three Muslim families on multilingual development in their children with autism. Findings indicate that the families' goal of maintaining normalcy in their children's life could not be attained without immersion in multiple languages. They believe that immersion in multilingual contexts helped their children acquire and expand their linguistic repertoire and enriched their familial and social relationships. Parents experienced hardships with professionals in receiving support in maintaining native-language use at home. Children who demonstrated language impairments during initial ethnographic observations showed significant progress in their multiple-language development toward the end of the study. © the National Association for Bilingual Education.

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Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-80051970571&doi=10.1080%2f15235882.2011.597824&partnerID=40&md5=2b6cdba0ed826a73029b8439ddb171ec

DOI: 10.1080/15235882.2011.597824
ISSN: 15235882
Cited by: 25
Original Language: English