title: The relationship between motor control and phonology in dyslexic children creator: Ramus, Franck creator: Pidgeon, Elizabeth creator: Frith, Uta subject: Neuropsychology subject: Developmental Psychology subject: Clinical Psychology subject: Behavioral Neuroscience description: Background: The goal of this study was to investigate the automaticity/cerebellar theory of dyslexia. We tested phonological skills and cerebellar function in a group of dyslexic 8-12 year old children and their matched controls. Tests administered included the Phonological Assessment Battery, postural stability, bead threading, finger to thumb and time estimation. Results: Dyslexic children were found to be significantly poorer than the controls at all tasks but time estimation. About 75% of dyslexics were more than one standard deviation below controls in phonological ability, and 50% were similarly impaired in motor skills. However, at least part of the discrepancy in motor skills was due to dyslexic individuals who had additional disorders (ADHD and/or DCD). The absence of evidence for a time estimation deficit also casts doubt on the cerebellar origin of the motor deficiency. About half the dyslexic children didn't have any motor problem, and there was no evidence for a causal relationship between motor skills on the one hand and phonological and reading skills on the other. Conclusion: This study provides partial support for the presence of motor problems in dyslexic children, but does not support the hypothesis that a cerebellar dysfunction is the cause of their phonological and reading impairment. date: 2002 type: Journal (Paginated) type: PeerReviewed format: application/pdf identifier: http://cogprints.org/2349/1/JCPP02.pdf identifier: Ramus, Franck and Pidgeon, Elizabeth and Frith, Uta (2002) The relationship between motor control and phonology in dyslexic children. [Journal (Paginated)] (In Press) relation: http://cogprints.org/2349/