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Should Heritage Languages be Incorporated into Interventions for Bilingual Individuals with Neurodevelopmental Disorders? A Systematic Review

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Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Special education policies recognize the need for developing and preserving the heritage languages of individuals with disabilities. Yet there seems to be a disconnect between policy and practice. Should the heritage languages of bilingual individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders be incorporated into interventions? This review evaluated 18 studies that examined the effects of heritage language instruction on treatment outcomes for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. Overall, results suggest a small effect favoring interventions delivered in the heritage language versus interventions delivered solely in the majority language. In general, studies were also found to be of high-quality according to What Works Clearinghouse Standards. Findings are discussed in terms of recommendations for future research and practice.

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Authors

Contributions

NL was responsible for the conception of the study, the aquisition, analysis and intrepretation of the data, as well as the drafting and revising of the manuscirpt. MFO contributed to the conception of the study, the intrepretation of the data, as well as the revising of the manuscript. JS contributed to the intrepretation of data and the revising of the manuscript. KL-C made substantial contributions to the acquisition and analysis of data. GEL contributed to the revising of the manuscript. All authors have given final approval of the version to be published.

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Correspondence to Nataly Lim.

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All Authors declared that they have has no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights Statement

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Lim, N., O’Reilly, M.F., Sigafoos, J. et al. Should Heritage Languages be Incorporated into Interventions for Bilingual Individuals with Neurodevelopmental Disorders? A Systematic Review. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 887–912 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3790-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3790-8

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