Can you have a learning disability and be bilingual? Yes!
Welcome back!
Last time we defined inclusion and how studies show it brings success to all students.
This post we wanted to dispel a misconception out there about students with learning disabilities and/or special needs and multilingualism. So here we go: having a learning disability/special need does not inhibit successful bilingual or multilingual education.
International schools worldwide have consistently demonstrated how students with disabilities can thrive through bilingual or multilingual programs. More importantly there is ample research to back this up:
One of the longest-lasting myths concerning multilingualism is that children with learning disabilities should remain monolingual. Thanks to well-established research in the field we now know these children can indeed become bilingual, or remain bilingual.
Being bilingual may help autistic children: Scientists show that bilingual children with autism spectrum disorders can switch mental gears more easily than those who can only speak one language.
This study shows how bilingual language exposure is not associated with additional challenges for the development of multiple languages in children with autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore, parents report fewer executive functioning problems and repetitive behaviors in young dual-language speakers with autism spectrum disorder.
This fascinating study shows how bilingual children with Down Syndrome scored at least as well on all English tests as their monolingual Down Syndrome counterparts. To date, studies regarding simultaneous bilingual children with a variety of language difficulties show that these children do not have any extra delay compared with monolingual children with similar language difficulties.
Bilingual children with language impairment do not appear to have greater difficulty with learning language compared to children who are only learning one language. Children with specific language impairment should be given every opportunity to acquire two languages when this option is available.
This article written by multilingualism expert, François Grosjean (who received his Doctorat d'Etat from the University of Paris), indicates that children with reading difficulties (such as dyslexia) will benefit from participation in a bilingual program.
Clearly children with a variety of learning disabilities and performance levels are not hindered (and sometimes are at an advantage) when learning in a multilingual program. Therefore, when deciding what accommodations a child needs to thrive in school, think carefully before removing a language program.
Jessica Lament and Emilia Pastor are cofounders of School Partners, a boutique non profit organization that provides professional development, instructional coaching, and school leadership coaching for educators in and out of schools in the Paris area.