Finn's Story
Normalising multilingual identities
Finn speaks mainly English at home with a little Irish. He does not attend the workshops specifically to use or develop his Irish. However, he greatly enjoys the workshops and is often seen running into the room full of energy, eager to show the adults what he has found that day.
Although Finn primarily speaks English, the workshops have exposed him to people speaking different languages and to a variety of English accents. For Finn, who is autistic and actively processing how language works, hearing the same words pronounced in different ways has been particularly valuable.
The multilingual environment helps Finn understand that there are many ways to say the same word. Seeing others pronounce words differently appears to reassure him that language varies between people, which supports his own language processing and confidence in communication. Through these workshops, Finn is not only engaging socially and artistically but also developing a broader understanding of how language works in the world around him.
“If you don’t want to learn another language, you’re gonna pick up one or two words […] but even if you don’t, the fact that they’re saying the English words in a different sort of accent.. […] The kids sort of take on: ‘oh, that’s how somebody else says that word.’ For Finn, because he’s trying to process language like, oh, that somebody else has a difficulty, for example, saying that word, It’s encouraging for him that he can see that”