Working+Draft


 * We can use this page to house a working draft of the article once we are at that point.**

Here are some notes (still pretty rough) for the beginning of our paper (prepared by Marisa). Please edit/expand/revise however appropriate!


 * Introduction:**

Autism is a neurological disorder characterized by pervasive impairments across the development of functional communication and social skills, as well as engagement in stereotyped and restricted patterns of behavior (4th ed., text rev.; DSM–IV–TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). In addition to language development and social communication, children with autism also experience additional impairments including difficulty with generalization of new skills, perspective-taking or theory of mind, and executive functioning skills. This devastating disorder impairs one’s ability to communicate ideas and feelings, interact with other people, and understand what others think and feel (National Research Council, 2001). As awareness for the disorder continues to increase, more and more children are being diagnosed at younger ages. As such, interventions must be tailored to meet the unique needs of young children and their families. Evidence recommends interventions that are developmentally appropriate, include parent involvement, and address the core deficit areas: communication, social development, and behavior. For young children who have not entered the school system, interventions often begin in the home setting. Families are often supported through home visiting to implement intervention strategies. However, unique challenges arise when the language spoken in the home is one other than English. The purpose of this article is to explore what is known about dual language learning and early bilingualism and how it may be applied to young children with autism.

Early language development is uniquely impacted when children grow up in an environment where they are hearing more than one language. Dual language learning and early development of bilingualism are often referred interchangeably. To help distinguish between the two, McLoughlin (1978) defines dual language learning as the simultaneous acquisition of two languages that occurs when a child who is under 3 years of age receives regular exposure to two languages. If the child does not receive exposure to a second language until after the age of 3, then it is the case of successive acquisition. (Someone can expand here or rewrite this section on definitions) Historical views have urged against dual language learning and early bilingualism, based on the fear that learning a second language during early development would be detrimental to the development of the first language. More recent research suggests just the opposite. Genessee (2008) asserts that there is no evidence that children have difficulty with or get confused by learning a second language during the infant-toddler period. Stemming from the more historical perspectives on early bilingualism, there is still wide belief that children who speak a minority language in the home should stop and focus instead on learning the majority language (English) as soon as possible. The intent for abandoning the minority language development is to ensure academic and social success once the child enters school. However, this notion that younger is better for acquisition of the majority language is not necessarily the case. Instead, research shows that children who are stronger in their native or home language acquire language and additional academic skills in the majority language (English) faster than those children whose native or home language is not well developed. In other words, spending time learning the minority home language facilitates communication and interactions with family members and does not detract from children’s future acquisition of English (Genessee, 2008). Young children are able to gain skills in English much faster when their skills are more developed in their home or native language. //(Edit this transition)// Furthermore, knowing two languages in early childhood has been associated with a variety of cognitive benefits including enhanced creativity, critical thinking skills, flexibility, and executive functioning (Yoshida, 2008). Although this information is important, the majority of research on the cognitive benefits of early bilingualism has been done with typically developing children. It is difficult to predict how much can be generalized to children with atypical development.
 * Multiple Language Development:**

-Bilingual children who also have language impairments do not show any differences in impairment when compared to monolingual equivalents. -Bilingual children who are language impaired typically exhibit language impairments in both languages. However, their impairments are of the same nature and magnitude as monolingual children with language impairments. (Guiterrez-Clellen, Wagner, & Simon-Cereijido, 2008; Paradis, Crago, Genesee, & Rice, 2003).
 * What we know about children with language impairments who are also dual language learners:**

Laura, this is fantastic! Great job organizing these key points. I think they are all critical issues that I had hoped to discuss in this article! (Marisa)
 * Summary and Conclusions (Laura's thoughts for the day)**
 * There is very little research on the topic of DLL and young children at risk for autism spectrum disorders. Research on this topic is critical if practitioners are to be guided by the information obtained by carefully designed studies to address our most urgent questions. Currently there are many assumptions regarding recommendations for practice and we need to replace these with evidence from research.**
 * Assumptions that may guide current practices include:**
 * We can generalize the information we know about DLL in typically developing young children to those at risk for ASD. However, social-communication impairments are at the heart of ASD. If dual language learners do in fact develop two language systems (Center for Early Care and Educational Research- Dual Language Learners (CECER-DLL: 2011), and children with ASD have challenges developing one language system, developing two may be twice as hard. Even so, the benefits may outweigh the effort to focus on two languages. Thus, we need to know which strategies are effective.**
 * We can generalize information obtained from research with young children with disabilities different from ASD such as Down syndrome, S**pecific Language Impairment**, and hearing impairment to young children with ASD. However, children with ASD experience unique challenges in the development of communicative and social interaction skills, including verbal and nonverbal social communication (www.dsm5.org). The interrelationship between the social impairments and language development have yet to be determined (Kuhl, 2009). We cannot assume that if children with disabilities other than ASD can learn two languages successfully that young children with ASD can be equally successful with the same approach.**
 * We can generalize information about DLL environments regardless of the two languages of focus.**
 * However, the most research at present has been collected about DLL environments when Spanish and English are the two languages of focus (CECER-DLL, 2011). Language and culture is interrelated (Genesse, 2008;** Jegatheesan, 2011) **and some languages and the way they are taught in families may be easier to learn for young children in general and for those with ASD in particular (Langdon, 2009). Cultures where there is less direct communication with young children and most language learning is accomplished through imitation of others in the environment may be especially problematic for young children with ASD.**
 * DLLs are able to code switch. However, it is challenging for young children with ASD to generalize social interaction skills gained with one person to that of a second even when one language is used. It may be especially challenging for DLL at risk for ASD to code switch.**
 * Social interaction gains** with peers may be **facilitated if young children with ASD learn English, or the language of instruction at school. However, little is known about the lost opportunities for language instruction if a family speaks a language other than English at home as well as the loss of enculturation as part of that family and community.** //(I think this is definitely a key point! -Marisa)//
 * Professionals often recommend that it is most beneficial for young children with ASD to focus on learning one language, with English being the language of choice (Kremer-Sadlik, 2005). However, we do not know for whom it is most beneficial. Is this comment, when made by professionals done so because most interventionists and teachers speak English? If parent make this recommendation is it guided by research or concerns about having the child further behind in school?**

For those learners with limited language skills, educators often use an augmentative and alternative communication systems (AAC). ACC systems help individuals who cannot talk to communicate functionally through sign language, pictures, and voice output devices (Mirenda, 2003) and there is strong evidence to support the efficacy of AAC systems in promoting functional communication and collateral behaviors, such as speech (Mirenda, 2003; Sulzer-Azaroff, Hoffman, Horton, Bondy, & Frost, 2009) and for those with ASD (add reference). However, to date, there has been little research examining the effects of AAC systems with second language learners (Tincani et al., 2009) as well as dual language learners. One study indicates that nonnative English speakers have more difficulty than native English speakers understanding synthesized English speech transmitted from a voice-output device (Alamsaputra, Kohnert, Munson, & Reichle, 2006). Therefore, further research needed to guide professionals responsible for selecting or adapting these systems who communicate in more than one language or who communicate with those who lack English proficiency (Tincani et al. 20099)---This is needed for students with ASD as well **(yasemin)**