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Does Balance of Multilingual Exposure Impact Gesture Comprehension in Autistic Children?

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Title: Does Balance of Multilingual Exposure Impact Gesture Comprehension in Autistic Children?
Authors: Wolfer, Pauline1 pauline.wolfer@unifr.ch, Baumeister, Franziska1, Vila Borrellas, Elisabet2,3, Czypionka, Anna1,4, Naigles, Letitia R.5, Durrleman, Stephanie1
Source: Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research. Dec2025, Vol. 68 Issue 12, p6043-6058. 16p.
Subject Terms: *Communicative competence, *Dialects, *Data analysis, *Autism, *Phonological awareness, *Intelligibility of speech, *Multilingualism, *Games, *Body language, *Research methodology, *Asperger's syndrome, *Speech perception, *Vocabulary, *Theory, *Language acquisition, *Educational attainment, *Children, Research funding, Task performance, Grammar, Sex distribution, Socioeconomic factors, Logistic regression analysis, Questionnaires, Age distribution, Severity of illness index, Descriptive statistics, Nonverbal communication, Psycholinguistics, Mathematical models, Statistics, Data analysis software, Social classes, Regression analysis
Abstract: Purpose: This study explores whether and how balance of multilingual exposure (BME) impacts gesture comprehension in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method: Eighty-six autistic children (aged 4-12 years) varying in their balance of exposure to different languages completed a gamified task assessing the comprehension of deictic, iconic, and conventional gestures presented in four communicative modalities: (a) gesture presented alone (e.g., gesturing DRIVE), (b) with reinforcing speech (e.g., gesturing DRIVE and saying "driving"), (c) with supplementing speech (e.g., gesturing DRIVE and saying "lady"), compared to (d) speech alone (e.g., saying "driving"). A BME score reflected the participants' balance of exposure to more than one language since birth, based on parental reports. Results: Overall, children with ASD performed well on the task (i.e., above chance level). Accounting for age, biological sex, socioeconomic status, autism severity, nonverbal IQ and general language skills, mixed-effects logistic regressions showed no differential effect of BME on the comprehension of deictic, iconic, and conventional gestures. Age and language skills were significant independent positive predictors of the performance, highlighting the maturating process of gesture comprehension over time on the one hand, and reflecting the importance of language for gesture comprehension on the other. Conclusion: This preliminary study paves the way for future research exploring the impact of multilingualism on the gesture comprehension abilities of individuals with ASD and provides new evidence suggesting that multilingual exposure is not detrimental to their communicative development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Speech%2C+Language+%26+Hearing+Research%22">Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research</searchLink>. Dec2025, Vol. 68 Issue 12, p6043-6058. 16p.
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Purpose: This study explores whether and how balance of multilingual exposure (BME) impacts gesture comprehension in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method: Eighty-six autistic children (aged 4-12 years) varying in their balance of exposure to different languages completed a gamified task assessing the comprehension of deictic, iconic, and conventional gestures presented in four communicative modalities: (a) gesture presented alone (e.g., gesturing DRIVE), (b) with reinforcing speech (e.g., gesturing DRIVE and saying "driving"), (c) with supplementing speech (e.g., gesturing DRIVE and saying "lady"), compared to (d) speech alone (e.g., saying "driving"). A BME score reflected the participants' balance of exposure to more than one language since birth, based on parental reports. Results: Overall, children with ASD performed well on the task (i.e., above chance level). Accounting for age, biological sex, socioeconomic status, autism severity, nonverbal IQ and general language skills, mixed-effects logistic regressions showed no differential effect of BME on the comprehension of deictic, iconic, and conventional gestures. Age and language skills were significant independent positive predictors of the performance, highlighting the maturating process of gesture comprehension over time on the one hand, and reflecting the importance of language for gesture comprehension on the other. Conclusion: This preliminary study paves the way for future research exploring the impact of multilingualism on the gesture comprehension abilities of individuals with ASD and provides new evidence suggesting that multilingual exposure is not detrimental to their communicative development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00853
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 16
        StartPage: 6043
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Communicative competence
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Dialects
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Autism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Phonological awareness
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Intelligibility of speech
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Multilingualism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Games
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Body language
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research methodology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Asperger's syndrome
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Speech perception
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Vocabulary
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Theory
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Language acquisition
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational attainment
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Children
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research funding
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Task performance
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Grammar
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sex distribution
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Socioeconomic factors
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Logistic regression analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Questionnaires
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Age distribution
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Severity of illness index
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      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
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      – SubjectFull: Nonverbal communication
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      – SubjectFull: Psycholinguistics
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      – SubjectFull: Mathematical models
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      – SubjectFull: Statistics
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      – SubjectFull: Data analysis software
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      – SubjectFull: Social classes
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Regression analysis
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Does Balance of Multilingual Exposure Impact Gesture Comprehension in Autistic Children?
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              Text: Dec2025
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