Simultaneous bilingualism and neurodiversity

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So, I've been wondering: How many WP members grew up bilingually (trilingually, polyglot)? I specifically mean this in the sense of having grown up with two (three, more) languages' that were learned simultaneously / parallel to each other, in a natural environment, not a classroom setting.

I ask because I've been wondering how growing up managing more than one language might affect abilities in the areas of ToM and general cognitive flexibility. I haven't been able to find anything much on this even without taking neurodiversity into account, so I'm curious.

Let's hear tales of code-switching, neologisms, the works!

[Note to moderators: I hope this is the correct subforum; feel free to move it if not!]

You know, it's a shame. I grew up speaking English. The irony is my grandfather was pure Chinese but I never learned Chinese. People on my island spoke Creole but I never learned that either.

I'm not sure where I fall on the bilingual/monolingual spectrum; my mother and half-sister, both being from Brazil, spoke Portuguese to each other (especially as my sister, at the time, did not have much English under her belt) and presumably to me as well. My mom was deported when I was six, however, and the Portuguese learning all but ceased then. I did not retain Portuguese as a language, but I find language in general easier than many of my peers, test very highly in verbal skills, and excelled with ease in Spanish class.

According to my sister, there was times as a toddler where I would literally go "Ba ba ba ba" as if it were a language and sometimes get frustrated when other people didn't understand what I was trying to say . We do not know if this is due to anything related to neurodiversity or, as she seems to think, me getting the languages mixed up.

I grew up with multiple language simultaneously.

I think the languages do help train you mind - especially when they are from totally separate language families with completely different structures, because it's easier to think other than verbally and with a natural ability for patterns probably helps a lot with cognitive flexibility. But more than that, having multiple cultures makes you much more aware of what is or is not socially appropriate in one culture compared to the others. That kind of thing early on is extremely helpful for training your mind to at least consider others emotions thoughts and reactions on both the basis of their culture and the individual, when it otherwise would not. It also helped me keep a hold on my impulse control, which otherwise would have been non-existent.

I learned to communicate using my first language after I learned my second language.

I learned my second language at school in third grade, and at that point, was very low verbal in first language.

I learned second language in a year, then became fluent in second language, then semi fluent in first language, which is still not as good as second.

For ToM, very interesting observation is hat it is easier for me eggspress emotions in first language than second language, like second language is not connected to some emotional module, but first language has more connection.

But in any language, there is not much emotional eggspression.

Another observation is my lack of social cognition before the big spurt in language development.

I had no ToM without language, and my social cognition is still lower than most people on WP, I often don't understand what they are communicating, I just read some facts.

I'm no expert, but I'd say that counts. I can relate to not retaining a language -- I forgot a lot of my second L1 and probably would've lost all of it if I hadn't had to use it a few times a year ... as it was, I was stuck at the level of a five-year-old until I decided I should extend my reading habit to my other L1, and I still don't know how to pronounce a lot of words.
I also find languages very easy, though it depends on the approach -- I don't have the patience to learn grammatical tables etc, I need to learn 'organically' by actually using the words in context.

*nods* Thank you, that's really informative. As my first languages were from the same language family and fairly close in many things, I didn't have the advantage of having radically different L1s is for cultural / social understanding, but I imagine that must be a fantastic boost!

I was raised bilingually myself, and had a definite "other people don't know what I know?" moment at age three or four, when the pre-school teacher sat me down and gently explained that the other kids couldn't understand half of what I was saying -- I had a fairly hard time separating my languages when I was young. I mostly stopped using my second L1 when I was about five or six years old and everyone around me used the other one, but picked it back up later.

Could you perhaps explain what exactly you mean when you say being raised with multiple languages helped you keep a hold on your impulse control? I'm not sure I understand.

I have ADHD pretty badly, it was even worse as a kid.
It taught me that there were some places / cultures where it was acceptable for me to be incredibly loud, and others where I had to be quiet. That in some it was fine to interrupt everyone, and in others I could not interrupt at all. That in a few of them it was fine to be way too affectionate (since I was a little cuddle monster), and that in others I couldn't touch people at all and must stand further away from them. I still struggle with that last one when drunk - it makes gringos very uncomfortable.

But overall it has improved my impulse control as a result of it.