Reading without Speech: A Study of Children with Cerebral Palsy

Ten nonspeaking cerebral palsy children, aged 7 - 10 years and of average intelligence, were assessed on a battery of tests measuring visual and auditory-perceptual skills and reading ability. Scores on perceptual tests were related to Reading Quotient achieved, and scores on auditory-perceptual tasks were related to speech production ability. Mean scores on all perceptual tests were well below population norms, and 9 of the 10 children achieved Reading Quotients below 85. A significant positive correlation was found between scores on visual perceptual tasks and Reading Quotient. Those subjects with some limited speech production abilities achieved significantly higher scores on the sound blending tasks than the subjects with reflexive vocalisation only. Speech production ability was found to correlate significantly with sound blending skills. However, on each of the tasks, the range of scores was wide, suggesting a need for a case-study approach to this population. Areas requiring further research are indicated.