Coordinative Movements in Children with Stuttering and Phonological Disorders

-Based on Ability of Manual Diadochokinesis in Interfering Manual Movements with the Opposite Hand-

Abstract

We investigated the concurrent finger movements of 27 children who have stuttering and phonological disorders (S+P), 27 children who suffer from stuttering alone (S+NP), and 27 children who have neither stuttering nor phonological disorders (NS+NP) (N=81; age length: 5: 6-11: 5) . The concurrent finger movements consisted of finger tapping with one hand and manual reactions followed by a buzzer sounded at regular intervals with the opposite hand. We regarded the manual reactions with the opposite hand as the interference of finger tapping with the other hand.
The results of this examination indicated that (1) the speed of manual tapping in the S+ P subjects was significantly inferior to the speed of tapping in the S+NP and NS+NP subjects; (2) the speed of manual tapping in S+NP subjects was similar to the speed of tapping in the NS+NP subjects; and (3) there were some differences among the three experimental groups in the reaction time of the left hand even though there were no differences among the three groups in reaction time of the right hand. Based on these results, we discuss the possibility that S+P children comprise a subtype of stutterers characterized by poor coordinative movements.