[Haptic perception and language development assessment in kindergarten and pre-school children]

In a study with 101 children aged 3 to 5 years expressive vocabulary, morpho-syntactical language skills, and tactile-kinesthetic/haptic perception (stereognosis of object properties, object stereognosis) were assessed. Substantial correlations were found between tactile-kinesthetic/haptic perception and the selected language facets. Age differences in expressive language skills remained significant even when tactile-kinesthetic/haptic perception was partialized out. On the contrary, age differences in tactile-kinesthetic/haptic perception were partially eliminated when language skills were controlled for. The results are discussed with regard to the role of the tactile-kinesthetic/haptic senses in language development.