Language Development in Welsh-English Bilingual Children with Down Syndrome and Autism Summary

Summary
Down syndrome (DS) is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder. A substantial proportion of children with DS also meet the clinical criteria for Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There are concerns regarding the suitability of bilingual exposure in these children, given their substantial language difficulties. However, these concerns have no empirical basis: no research has been conducted on this bilingual population.
Focussing on Welsh-English bilinguals, the questions we seek to address include:
1.What are the language abilities in this population?
2.How does development of the two languages in bilinguals with dual diagnosis of DS/ASD compare to development in monolinguals with this dual diagnosis, and in individuals with single diagnosis?
We aim to address theoretical questions and inform current debates in bilingualism research. We will do this by testing language skills which are impaired in monolinguals in this clinical population, but which bilingualism is thought to enhance.
We will examine Welsh-English bilinguals with a dual diagnosis of DS/ASD, as well as control groups. The groups will be tested on measures examining linguistic and general cognitive abilities. We will administer established standardised tests and specially designed tasks of vocabulary, grammar, processing and non verbal abilities, while further information will be collected from parents/guardians using questionnaires.