Multilingualism & Autism

Survey for parents and professionals in contact with autistic children

I work with autistic children:

Access the survey

I am the parent of an autistic child:

Access the survey

À propos

About

Purpose of the survey

Have you ever met an autistic child who spontaneously speaks one or more foreign languages, without having learned them at home or in their immediate environment? This intriguing phenomenon, still largely unknown, is beginning to be reported in several case studies, but remains poorly documented on a large scale.

Our goal is to better understand this phenomenon: are these isolated cases or a more common reality than we think?
To this end, we are conducting an international survey, available in several languages, aimed at parents of autistic children and professionals (speech therapists, teachers, educators, psychologists, etc.) in contact with autistic children.

Practical information

The survey was approved by the ethical committee of the Faculty of Psychology of the Université libre de Bruxelles.
The survey is completely anonymous, meaning that no identifying data is collected.
Completing the questionnaire takes less than 10 minutes.
The survey will close in January 2026 and the results of the study will be published on this site and our social networks.

The ACTE (Autism in Context: Theory and Experience) Interfaculty Research Center, located at the Université libre de Bruxelles, is dedicated to the study of Autism. Founded in 2015, this laboratory aims to deepen understanding of the communication difficulties and frequent delays in language development that characterize autism.
To achieve this, we combine methods from cognitive psychology and linguistics in a research program that aims to approximate the real-life conditions of participants. Our experimental studies are designed with the specific sensitivities of autistic children and adults in mind, ensuring a tailored and relevant approach.
At the heart of our project, we pay particular attention to the diversity of autistic profiles. By adopting a longitudinal approach, we also analyze the individual evolution of children to better understand their development and specific trajectories.
For more information on our other studies and our laboratory, please refer to our website.