Triumph Over Autism Bilingually

Something I've been mulling over is what to do with my son in teaching him Spanish. We were advised to teach him English only for now, so that he's learning the same terms for things at school, with his therapists, and at home with us.

I'm so used to doing the bilingual method* with my girls that I have to stop myself with my son. But deep down inside I don't think exposing him to Spanish will confuse him. It's just hard to know because he's not saying any words.

*speaking English and Spanish side by side. For example, "Are you thirsty? ¿Tienes sed?"

I came across this article about a little girl the doctors said would never speak, yet now she's bilingual!

EXCLUSIVE LAURA, 9, IN TRIUMPH OVER AUTISM

Little Laura Cuthbert's parents were delighted when she learned to speak after doctors warned she would never talk properly.

But it was nothing to the couple's joy when their autistic daughter astounded experts by becoming BILINGUAL- chatting away in English AND Spanish.

The nine-year-old's amazing achievement is a tribute to the devotion of mum Gill and dad Dave, who refused to accept predictions that she would never have a normal life.

Gill, 43, said: "The doctors said she would probably spend most of her time in an institution. Now we have a happy daughter who never stops talking - in two languages. (Read more)

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The parents used a therapy call the Son-Rise Programme. I decided to look more into this program and wrote about it in Jaden's Travels.

**As this post becomes old, the source for this article may be archived or removed.