Lessons From Experience: Autism, Bilingualism, and Culture

• In Event: AERA Research in Progress Roundtable Session Four
  In Invited Roundtable: Research-in-Progress RT065 (Saturday)

Abstract

This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of bilingual parents raising children with autism in South Florida. It examines how language and culture shape family decisions regarding communication at home and interactions with schools and service providers. The analysis is guided by critical autism studies and translanguaging as theoretical frameworks that highlight the diversity of experiences across families. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with Spanish-English and Portuguese-English bilingual parents of children with autism and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings aim to reveal how cultural and linguistic factors shape these bilingual families’ experiences in the context of autism.

Author

• Ana Paula Fabian Freire, Florida International University