Cutaneous oral-motor reflexes of children with normal and disordered speech

Cutaneous reflex responses in the human jaw-closing system to low-threshold, mechanical stimulation were investigated in 30 four- to six-year-old children with normal speech and in seven children with disordered speech. Responses of these children were smaller and less frequently observed than those of a seven- to eight-year-old group in an earlier study, suggesting that cutaneous oral-motor reflexes may develop with the acquisition of speech motor skills. Preliminary observations in a very small sample of speech-impaired children suggest that future work should explore the hypothesis that development of cutaneous oral reflexes is delayed in this group. The results of this and other studies suggest that human oral-motor reflexes undergo a pattern of continuous change throughout the lifespan.