[Conditions in stuttering. Results of an interdisciplinary study of 3- to 5-year-old children. Neurologic aspects]

Results recorded from neurological surveys are reported in the context of an interdisciplinary study conducted on 67 children aged three to five years at the onset of speech fluency disorders as well as investigations on 50 children of identical age and sex. The two groups (DS: disruption of speech; CG: control group) significantly differed from each other regarding family predisposition for stuttering. Sub-coordination and whole-body coordination were investigated. Both the occurrence of disorders and as the number of vegetative symptoms recorded from DS children were significantly higher than comparable values obtained from CG probands. Electroencephalographic recordings were taken only from the DS group, with 25 percent of them being interpreted as pathological. The conclusion is drawn that this study, once more, has provided evidence for the existence of somatic predisposition which, however, must not be considered identical with cerebral damage.