An Auditory-Motor Percussion Test for Differential Diagnosis of Children with Communication Difficulties

Abstract

Experience with children who have communication difficulties, are often hard to reach, and present severe barriers to treatment and testing led to the development of an auditory-motor percussion test designed to help distinguish children who show organicity from those who do not. Results of a normative study of 144 children tested in settings for the normal child and 84 in settings for disturbed children supported the hypothesis that the presence of structural alteration in the central nervous system is probable if subject (aged 4 to 7) is unable to tap a rhythmic tonal pattern. With the use of simple percussion instruments in a special method for administering the new procedure, the test can be used as an alert to hidden neurological damage in children over 4 and inaccessible to traditional testing.