Bilingualism and Theory of Mind Development in Autistic Children: A Longitudinal Study of Language, Executive Function, and Intelligence

This longitudinal study tracked Theory of Mind skills in bilingual and monolingual autistic children from ages 6-12, finding that bilingual children showed better second-order Theory of Mind performance by ages 9 and 12. Expressive vocabulary and intelligence were key factors supporting Theory of Mind development, with bilingual children benefiting earlier than their monolingual peers.