[Effects of classes in "creative movement and pantomime" and "badminton" on total-body coordination in older dyslexic...

Reported previously from a U.S. empirical study of 7th grade high-school students (102 male and 84 female) where statistically significant results had been found relative to total body coordination and body image (Schneider, 1978), the effectiveness of a series of classes in "creative movement and pantomime" was verified in a 7.5-week longitudinal study of 7th grade male students (N = 20) attending remedial education at a special school for dyslexic students in Massachusetts, U.S.A. It has been possible to demonstrate that these classes had achieved statistically significant improvements in overall body coordination of Ss, measured with the body coordination test KTK - Körper-Koordinationstest für Kinder (Schilling, Kiphart, 1974). Findings obtained from the control group (N = 20) who, during that same period, had been taught, and practising, "Badminton" in the regular sports classes, elicited the same specific, statistically significant gains in overall body coordination. These improvements are considered attributable to the additional, specific stimuli for development provided to the dyslexic students by "creative movement and pantomime" classes and the racket sport "Badminton" alike. The findings support the thesis that delayed formation of hemispheric linkage is present in dyslexic persons, and that specific movement programmes provide developmental stimuli that influence overall body coordination.