Bilingualism in autism: Language learning profiles and social experiences

Bilingualism changes how people relate to others, and lead their lives. This is particularly relevant in autism, where social interaction presents challenges. Understanding the overlap between the social variations of bilingualism and autism could unveil new ways to support autistic people. This research aims to understand the language learning and social experiences of mono-, bi- and multilingual autistic people. A total of 297 autistic adults (mean age = 32.4 years) completed an online questionnaire including general demographic, language history and social life quality self-rating items. The sample included 89 monolingual English speakers, 98 bilinguals, and 110 multilinguals, with a wide range of language profiles. Regression models were used to analyse how bilingualism variables predicted social life quality ratings. In the full sample, age negatively predicted social life quality scores while the number of languages known positively predicted social life quality scores. In the multilingual subset, age negatively predicted social life quality scores, while third language proficiency positively predicted social life quality scores. This is the first study describing the language history and social experiences of a substantial sample of bilingual and multilingual autistic adults. It provides valuable insight into how autistic people can learn and use a new language, and how their bilingualism experiences shape their social life. Lay abstract Bilingualism changes the way people relate to others. This is particularly interesting in the case of autism, where social interaction presents many challenges. A better understanding of the overlap between the social variations of bilingualism and autism could unveil new ways to support the social experiences of autistic people. This research aims to understand the language learning and social experiences of autistic people who speak one, two or more languages. A total of 297 autistic adults (aged between 16 and 80 years) completed an online questionnaire that included general demographic questions, social life quality self-rating questions, language history questions, and open questions about the respondents’ bilingualism experience. Respondents had a wide range of language experiences: there were 89 monolingual English speakers, 98 bilinguals, 110 respondents knew three languages or more, all with a wide range of abilities in their languages. In the full group, younger respondents were more satisfied with their social life, and respondents with many languages were more satisfied with their social life than respondents with few languages. In the multilingual group, younger respondents were more satisfied with their social life, and the more skilled in their third language the more satisfied with their social life. This is the first study describing the language history and social experiences of a large group of bilingual and multilingual autistic adults. It highlights how autistic people can encounter a new language, learn it and use it in their daily life, and how their bilingualism experiences shape their social life.

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Bilingualism in autism: Language learning profiles and social experiences

10.31219/osf.io/v5uaw ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Bérengère Galadriel Digard ◽

Antonella Sorace ◽

andrew stanfield ◽

Sue Fletcher-Watson

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Social Life ◽

Life Quality ◽

Social Experiences ◽

Valuable Insight ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Language History ◽

Autistic People ◽

Wide Range ◽

Autistic Adults

Please note this paper has now been peer-reviewed and published.The published version can be found at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1362361320937845To cite, please use: Digard, B. G., Sorace, A., Stanfield, A., & Fletcher-Watson, S. (2020). Bilingualism in autism: Language learning profiles and social experiences. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320937845Please do not cite this preprint.Bilingualism changes how people relate to others, and lead their lives. This is particularly relevant in autism, where social interaction presents challenges. Understanding the overlap between the social variations of bilingualism and autism could unveil new ways to support autistic people. This research aims to understand the language learning and social experiences of mono-, bi- and multilingual autistic people. A total of 297 autistic adults (mean age = 32.4 years) completed an online questionnaire including general demographic, language history and social life quality self-rating items. The sample included 89 monolingual English speakers, 98 bilinguals, and 110 multilinguals, with a wide range of language profiles. Regression models were used to analyse how bilingualism variables predicted social life quality ratings. In the full sample, age negatively predicted social life quality scores while the number of languages known positively predicted social life quality scores. In the multilingual subset, age negatively predicted social life quality scores, while third language proficiency positively predicted social life quality scores. This is the first study describing the language history and social experiences of a substantial sample of bilingual and multilingual autistic adults. It provides valuable insight into how autistic people can learn and use a new language, and how their bilingualism experiences shape their social life.

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Hidradenitis suppurativa: Wie die Partner von Betroffenen psychosozial beeinträchtigt werden

Karger Kompass Dermatologie ◽

10.1159/000516079 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-3

Author(s):

Uwe Gieler

Keyword(s):

Disease Severity ◽

Social Life ◽

Hidradenitis Suppurativa ◽

Life Quality ◽

Psychosocial Burden ◽

Wide Range ◽

The Family ◽

The Mean ◽

Moderate Effect

Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa is a debilitating disease related to a great psychosocial burden in affected patients and subsequently also people around them. Patients’ partners as caregivers may indirectly experience wide range of devastating effects of the disease on their emotional and social life. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the QoL impairment in HS patients’ partners and to identify its aspects that are affected the most. Correlation between QoL burden and disease severity, duration, sex, age and smoking was also assessed. Methods: A total of 50 HS sufferers were assessed according to disease severity and their partners’ QoL was determined using the Family Dermatology Life Quality Index questionnaire. Results: The mean FDLQI for patients’ partners was 8.7 ± 6.8 points, indicating generally a moderate effect of HS on their life. Quality of partners’ life correlated significantly with disease severity but no correlation was found according to other factors. Conclusion: Hidradenitis suppurativa is a highly psychologically devastating disease not only for patients but also for their partners. It occurred to diminish partners’ QoL mostly by increasing daily expenditure but also other problems were often reported. Clinicians should be aware of these psychosocial implications, in order to provide optimal therapy of HS affected families by a multidisciplinary specialized management addressing both, patients and their cohabitants simultaneously.

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When the Rainbows Bring the Crawfish

Gastronomica The Journal of Food and Culture ◽

10.1525/gfc.2021.21.2.90 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 90-101

Author(s):

V. Constanza Ocampo-Raeder

Keyword(s):

Human Nature ◽

Social Life ◽

Biological Diversity ◽

River Valley ◽

Cultural Meanings ◽

Liminal Space ◽

The Social ◽

Wide Range ◽

The Relationship

In this article I present the social life of camarones, a Peruvian river crustacean used in some of the region’s favorite dishes, and the liminal space they occupy in the geography, minds, and ecosystem of Peru and its people. I situate the relationship between these crawfish and the folks who capture them, known as camaroneros, within insights of environmental anthropologists and food scholars who also explore the connections between cultural and biological diversity and the entangled socio-ecological histories that inform the manner in which nature is mediated and understood by local societies. In this article, however, I expand this understanding to reveal unexpected spaces of engagement, especially those that emerge while eating, which tend to be overlooked by bounded notions of culture and nature and limit the ways we can imagine human-nature relationships. Via the story of camarones and camaroneros of one river valley of Peru, I argue that eating is a socio-ecological act that is imbued with profound cultural meanings involving a wide range of participants—not just farmers or producers—each with their own ecological identities yet still implicitly linked to one another through the process of producing, preparing, and consuming food.

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‘I never realised everybody felt as happy as I do when I am around autistic people’: A thematic analysis of autistic adults’ relationships with autistic and neurotypical friends and family

Autism ◽

10.1177/1362361320908976 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 24 (6) ◽

pp. 1438-1448 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Catherine J Crompton ◽

Sonny Hallett ◽

Danielle Ropar ◽

Emma Flynn ◽

Sue Fletcher-Watson

Keyword(s):

Social Relationships ◽

Thematic Analysis ◽

Social Life ◽

Minority Status ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Social Time ◽

Autistic People ◽

Social Opportunities ◽

Autistic Adults ◽

Close Family

Many autistic people are motivated to have friends, relationships and close family bonds, despite the clinical characterisation of autism as a condition negatively affecting social interaction. Many first-hand accounts of autistic people describe feelings of comfort and ease specifically with other autistic people. This qualitative research explored and contrasted autistic experiences of spending social time with neurotypical and autistic friends and family. In total, 12 autistic adults (10 females, aged 21–51) completed semi-structured interviews focused on time spent with friends and family; positive and negative aspects of time spent with neurotypical and autistic friends and family; and feelings during and after spending time together. Three themes were identified: cross-neurotype understanding, minority status and belonging. Investigation of these themes reveals the benefits of autistic people creating and maintaining social relationships with other autistic people, in a more systematic way than previous individual reports. They highlight the need for autistic-led social opportunities and indicate benefits of informal peer support for autistic adults. Lay abstract Although autistic people may struggle to interact with others, many autistic people have said they find interacting with other autistic people more comfortable. To find out whether this was a common experience, we did hour-long interviews with 12 autistic adults. We asked them questions about how it feels when spending time with their friends and family, and whether it felt different depending on whether the friends and family were autistic or neurotypical. We analysed the interviews and found three common themes in what our participants said. First, they found spending with other autistic people easier and more comfortable than spending time with neurotypical people, and felt they were better understood by other autistic people. Second, autistic people often felt they were in a social minority, and in order to spend time with neurotypical friends and family, they had to conform with what the neurotypical people wanted and were used to. Third, autistic people felt like they belonged with other autistic people and that they could be themselves around them. These findings show that having time with autistic friends and family can be very beneficial for autistic people and played an important role in a happy social life.

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Anthropology and the Development of African Studies

Africa ◽

10.2307/1157769 ◽

1967 ◽

Vol 37 (4) ◽

pp. 389-406 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Daryll Forde

Keyword(s):

Social Life ◽

World War ◽

Tropical Africa ◽

The Social ◽

Wide Range ◽

The First World War ◽

Modern Economic ◽

Opening Paragraph ◽

First World ◽

And Training

Opening ParagraphThe foundation and the broad policies of our Institute emerged from what proved a fortunate conjunction of diverse interests and opportunities that developed after the First World War. The initial phase of modern economic advance in tropical Africa, following the introduction of the telegraph, railways, all-weather roads, was by the twenties making apparent a wide range of needs and opportunities for further progress in Africa—progress in which both the interests of, and contribution by, its peoples would be closely concerned. Within African territories the demand for literacy and training in new skills both more extensive and at higher levels was becoming more and more obvious and pressing. The significance of the increasing and inevitable association of Africans and their communities with a world economy was beginning to be more widely appreciated. With this growing recognition of the need for a more positive and constructive response many questions arose concerning not only the means of fostering such developments, but also their effects on the attitudes, beliefs, and institutions that had hitherto sustained the cultures and the social life of largely autonomous tribes and chiefdoms.

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Perspectives and experiences of autistic multilingual adults: A qualitative analysis. (Under revision)

10.31219/osf.io/7kn9c ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kathryn Nolte ◽

Sue Fletcher-Watson ◽

Antonella Sorace ◽

Andrew Stanfield ◽

Bérengère Galadriel Digard

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Analysis ◽

Language Learning ◽

Online Survey ◽

Language Education ◽

Valuable Insight ◽

Motivating Factors ◽

Self Confidence ◽

Autistic People ◽

Wide Range ◽

The Impact

Please note this paper is being peer-reviewed for publication in Autism in Adulthood:Nolte, K., Fletcher-Watson, S., Sorace, A., Stanfield, A., & Digard, B.G. (2021). Perspectives and experiences of autistic multilingual adults: A qualitative analysis. (Under revision for Autism in Adulthood)Please do not cite this preprint.Background: The combined experience of autism and bilingualism is poorly understood, leading to poor support and guidance for autistic people in multilingual environments or interested in languages, and for their families. While most studies available focus on the language and cognitive profiles of autistic bilinguals, or on the experiences of parents, little is known about the lived experiences of autistic multilinguals. Methods: To address this question, this study examined the impact of autism and multilingualism on the lives of 54 autistic multilingual adults who completed an online survey assessing the profiles of autistic bi- and multilinguals. Thematic analysis was used to process responses to the survey’s open-ended questions to explore motivations for learning languages, and the perceived benefits linked to being both autistic and multilingual. Results: There was a wide range of language profiles in the sample, with various levels of proficiency, ages of acquisition, and learning environments. Respondents reported various motivating factors for the acquisition of multiple languages, including social aspects and a predisposition for language learning. Respondents reported many benefits of multilingualism, such as opportunities, relationships, social skills, and self-confidence. Conclusions: Unlike previous work with autistic multilinguals involving case studies, the larger sample involved here offers valuable insight into the profiles and experiences of this overlooked population. Like their neurotypical peers, autistic people can become multilingual without being language savants, and they can acquire languages through life circumstances, education, or by choice, reaching varying levels of proficiency. According to our respondents, being autistic can both positively and negatively influence language learning. Importantly, autistic people can experience numerous benefits from multilingualism, especially regarding social communication, opportunities, and self-confidence. These findings will have implications for language education practices as well as for multilingual families and the practitioners who support them.

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Who are the ‘social Darwinists’? On dispositional determinants of perceiving the social world as competitive jungle

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0254434 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (8) ◽

pp. e0254434

Author(s):

Piotr Radkiewicz ◽

Krystyna Skarżyńska

Keyword(s):

Social Life ◽

Attachment Styles ◽

Life Quality ◽

Individual Characteristics ◽

Dark Triad ◽

Moral Judgments ◽

Dual Process ◽

Survey Study ◽

Big Five Personality ◽

The Social

The naive social Darwinism, also called the Competitive Jungle Belief (CJB), according to the theory of the Dual-Process Motivational (DPM) model, is recognized as an expanded perceptual scheme acting as a cognitive mediator between deep individual characteristics and the area of socio-political attitudes and ideologies. This article aims to show the individual differences that can be dispositional characteristics to believe in the Competitive Jungle scheme’s principles. The presented studies’ main theoretical question is to find out whether the CJB bases on positive "individual resources" or rather some psychological deficits. In an extensive survey study, including four random-representative samples of adults Poles (with N ranging from 624 to 853 respondents), we tested the predictive power of the five categories of variables: 1) attachment styles; 2) Big Five personality traits; 3) Dark Triad of personality; 4) basic human values and 5) moral judgments. The results showed the psychological profile of social Darwinists as clearly dysfunctional in terms of personal life quality. They express characteristics like admiration for power and desire to dominate, pursue one’s goals at all costs, exploitative attitude towards people, and hostility. On the other hand, they reveal a fearful style in close relations with others and have low self-esteem and low self-sufficiency. From the societal perspective, such beliefs make up a vision of social life that is unfavorable for building a cooperative, helpful, and relatively egalitarian society. The supreme idea that only those who do not sympathize with others and are ready to use them can be successful and survive is far from the principles of liberal democracy.

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"I'm trying to reach out, I'm trying to find my people": Loneliness and loneliness distress in autistic adults

10.31234/osf.io/7ckeq ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lisa Quadt ◽

Gemma Louise Williams ◽

James S Mulcahy ◽

Marta Silva ◽

Dennis E O Larsson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Strong Correlations ◽

Sensory Sensitivity ◽

Autistic Group ◽

Autistic People ◽

The Social ◽

Autistic Adults ◽

Anxiety Depression ◽

Insight Into ◽

Autistic Population ◽

Group Regression

Despite the persistent stereotype that autistic individuals are not motivated to seek meaningful social relationships, rates of loneliness among the autistic population are higher than in the non-autistic population. In this two-part, mixed methods study, we sought to 1) quantify the level of distress associated with loneliness in autistic and non-autistic adults and 2) gain qualitative insight into autistic experiences of loneliness. In Study A, 209 participants (encompassing a group of autistic individuals and a group of non-autistic comparison participants) completed questionnaire ratings of their level of loneliness, associated distress, trait anxiety, depression, and sensory sensitivity. Results indicated that the autistic group scored higher levels across all measures. Both groups manifest strong correlations between loneliness and loneliness distress. In the autistic group, but not the non-autistic group, regression analyses showed that loneliness and sensory sensitivity predicted levels of anxiety, wherein the effect of loneliness on anxiety was partially mediated by the level of sensory sensitivity. In Study B, nine autistic adults took part in ten-minute, unstructured dyadic conversations around the topic of loneliness. Inductive and deductive analyses enriched qualitative understanding of the experiences of loneliness of autistic individuals. Our results broadly oppose the social motivation deficit hypothesis and we instead frame our findings within the larger context of ‘ethical loneliness’, concluding that a concerted effort is needed to overcome the fundamental disconnect with the neurotypical world experienced by many autistic people.

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The Importance of Cultural Monuments in Greece: How the Cultural Management Is A Definitive Factor for The Sustainable Development in Region of Epirus?

Journal of Advanced Research in Social Sciences ◽

10.33422/jarss.v2i3.230 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 61-67

Author(s):

Efthymios Spyridon Georgiou

Keyword(s):

Social Life ◽

Summer School ◽

Research Question ◽

Border Crossing ◽

Research Approach ◽

Cultural Management ◽

Main Research ◽

The Social ◽

Wide Range ◽

Cultural Monuments

This paper is focused on the anthropology of space, in architectural and cultural monuments of the mountainous village of Konitsa. Epirus is region that presents a harmonious collaboration between nature and people. The purpose of the anthropological research approach was focused on the way in which the dynamics of cultural heritage are perceived by local residents. The main research question concerns the perceptions of the social actors of the village of Konitsa regarding the cultural monuments in the region. The methodology of fieldwork had as a key tool the use of interviews, charts, discussions with the locals, walks, tours and visits as well as observation of locations, people and monuments. The inhabitants currently living in the wider area of Konitsa, are directly related to the tangible reality of history, folklore and tradition of monuments, something that can be easily detected through a wide range of aspects of the region’s ‘’social life’’ (Appadurai & Kopytoff, 1986). Although the cultural and traditional heritage refer to the past, they have a significant impact on the present era and they also have the ability to determine the future. (Bulter & Rowlahds, 2012). The cultural management is an advantage of Konitsa and the cooperation with the social associations, for example agriculture partnerships, can reduce the unemployment as well as the immigration and help in the economic development. This research paper is based on the fieldwork and theoretical lessons in the Summer School Konitsa 2016 of Border Crossing Network.

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Die Corona-Pandemie

10.5771/9783748910589 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Social Isolation ◽

Social Life ◽

Ethics Committees ◽

Spiritual Needs ◽

Social Changes ◽

The Social ◽

Wide Range ◽

Fundamental Freedoms

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to radical interventions in healthcare and social life, the efficiency and appropriateness of which are now increasingly at the centre of controversy. In this volume, renowned scientists, academics and experts from a wide range of disciplines reflect and comment on how to deal with the pandemic. Among other things, the following topics are discussed: the statements of national ethics committees, the issue of triage, the acceptability of interventions in fundamental freedoms, the social isolation of those affected, the handling of religious and spiritual needs as well as deeper social changes during the crisis. Overall, this publication makes an important contribution to the resolution of the coronavirus crisis. With contributions by Maria Berghofer, Alois Birklbauer, Nadine Brühwiler, Barbara Derler, Stefan Dinges, Gerhard Falzberger, Eckhard Frick SJ, Isabella Guanzini, Karin Gubisch, Hartmann Jörg Hohensinner, Gerhard Hundsdorfer, Ulrich H.J. Körtner, Wolfgang Köle, Wolfgang Kröll, Martin M. Lintner, Univ.-Prof. Manfred Novak, Jochen Ostheimer, Sabine Petritsch, Brigitte Pichler, Gerhard Pichler, Johann Platzer, Franz Ploner, Regina Polak, Simon Romagnoli, Michael Rosenberger, Walter Schippinger, Christoph Seidl, Martina Schmidhuber, Eberhard Schockenhoff, Detlev Schwarz, Martin Splett, Willibald J. Stronegger, Jean-Daniel Strub, Christa Tax, Arnika Thonhofer, Andreas Valentin, Stephan Winter, Univ.-Prof. Werner Wolbert.

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