A comparative study on the motor speed and lateralization in children and adolescents with developmental stuttering and their normal peers

Stuttering is a prevalent communication disorder among children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to compare the motor speed and lateralization skills of children and adolescents with developmental stuttering with those of their normal counterparts.

In a cross- sectional study, 30 students with developmental stuttering and 30 normal students were recruited from elementary and middle schools of Shahriyar through convenience sampling. A speech-language pathologist confirmed the diagnosis of developmental stuttering in affected subjects. Each group consisted of 26 boys and 4 girls whose average age was 12 years. Finger tapping task as a neuropsychologic test was used for the evaluation. Data were statistically analyzed via dependent and independent t tests using the SPSS statistic software (version 18).

Results showed that there was significant difference between two groups regarding motor speed (P = 0.0001), but, lateralization had a similar pattern in both groups (P = 0.35). Motor speed of the right hand, which is related to the left hemisphere, has a significant predominance to that of the left hand, which is related to the right hemisphere, in both groups. Therefore, the left hemisphere is predominance hemisphere in both groups.

When the production of language is impaired, difficulties are also apparent in motor abilities. In clinical assessment and intervention for stuttering groups should be attended to target motor ability deficits and language impairments simultaneously. It is also possible that atypical lateralization may be the consequence of this disorder rather than being part of its etiology.