Development and evaluation of a simultaneous bilingual communication intervention protocol for autistic children

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Speech-Language Pathology

Background:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) impacts communication development in nonverbal children.
• Culturally and linguistically diverse populations require tailored communication interventions.
• Bilingual approaches may enhance communication repertoires for autistic children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore bilingual (English/Spanish) communication intervention for nonverbal autistic children.
• To investigate the effectiveness of concurrent mand instruction in language-specific contexts.
• To assess the emergence of linguistic discrimination in mixed-language settings.

Main Methods:

• Participants received communication intervention in blocked (e.g., English first) then shuffled (mixed English/Spanish) language trials.
• Functional communication and conditional discrimination were assessed.
• Mixed-language probes were used to evaluate context-specific language use.

Main Results:

• Participants successfully established functional communication in both English and Spanish.
• Children demonstrated linguistic discrimination, using appropriate language based on the context (therapist's language).
• Minimal formal language discrimination instruction was required.

Conclusions:

• Bilingual communication interventions are effective for establishing functional communication in nonverbal autistic children.
• This approach facilitates linguistic discrimination, enabling context-appropriate language use.
• Culturally and linguistically responsive interventions are crucial for this population.