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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Published on: October 3, 2018

Sleep Disturbances Differentially Associated With First and Second Language Receptive Vocabulary in Autistic

Caicai Zhang¹, Lu Li¹, Ruofan Wu¹

¹Neurocognition of Language, Music and Learning Lab, Department of Language Science and Technology, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

|June 3, 2026

Summary

Sleep disturbances in autistic children are linked to poorer second language (L2) vocabulary skills. Addressing sleep issues may support language development in bilingual autistic children.

Keywords:

Autistic children First language Second language Sleep Vocabulary

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Testing Sensory and Multisensory Function in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Published on: April 22, 2015

Area of Science:

Neurodevelopmental disorders
Sleep science
Second language acquisition

Background:

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is frequently associated with sleep disturbances and language difficulties.
The role of sleep in language development is established in typically developing children, but less understood in autistic children, especially regarding second language (L2) acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between sleep behaviors and receptive vocabulary in bilingual autistic children.
To explore how sleep disturbances impact first language (L1) and L2 vocabulary development in autistic children.

Main Methods:

A cross-sectional study involving 36 autistic children and 40 typically developing (TD) children (aged 5-10 years) in Hong Kong.
Sleep behaviors were assessed using the parent-administered Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ).
Receptive vocabulary in L1 and L2 was measured using standardized tests.

Main Results:

Autistic children reported significantly more sleep disturbances, including night wakings and parasomnias, compared to TD peers.
Sleep disturbances, particularly daytime sleepiness, were negatively associated with L2 receptive vocabulary scores in autistic children (B=-2.26, p=0.019).
The association between sleep disturbances and L1 vocabulary was less pronounced than with L2 vocabulary.

Conclusions:

Sleep behaviors are significantly associated with L2 vocabulary acquisition in bilingual autistic children.
Daytime sleepiness may impair attention and working memory, negatively affecting L2 learning in autistic children.
Further longitudinal and intervention studies are needed to clarify the directionality of these relationships.