This study set out to explore the links between specific language impairment (SLI), motor development, and literacy acquisition in children. We focused on motor those motor defi cits that are most common in children with SLI; furthermore, we investigated whether SLI can be caused by persisting primary reflexes or if they can make the symptoms of SLI worse. After that we tried to find out if it is possible to predict SLI already in small children by an early development assessment and if a specific movement intervention programme would also be useful to help children with SLI because children with developmental speech/language impairments are at higher risk of reading disability than their intact peers with no history of speech/language impairment (Schuele, 2004).
We still do not fully understand the causes and biological basis of SLI; however, on the evidence of the sources studied, a signifi cant relationship between motor impairment and speech/language impairments in children was found. Typical diffi culties lie in the areas of balance, general static coordination, and general dynamic coordination. This developmental delay may be related to the persistence of primary reflexes or can be caused by a cerebellar deficit.
Several early developmental assessments are available, but they do not comprehensively test both motor development and language skills. Specific movement interven-tion programmes for children with SLI and other developmental challenges have already been developed, but we lack fundamental research (only a few case studies on this topic are available) which shows the success rate for children with SLI. Further research should be conducted to identify children who may need special interventions even before they receive the SLI diagnosis, and to search for approaches which can help to mitigate the impairment.
