Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2009, 108, 862-872. © Perceptual and Motor Skills 2009 DOI 10.2466/PMS.108.3.862-872 EVALUATION OF VISUAL MOTOR PERCEPTION IN CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL ARTICULATION AND PHONOLOGICAL DISORDERS 1 ESRA OZCEBE, MELTEM CIGDEM KIRAZLI, AND SEBNEM SEVINC Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Section of Audiology and Speech Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacetepe University Summary.—The aim of this study is to compare the visual-motor perceptual skills of children who have a developmental articulation and phonological disor- der, with children who do not have such disorders. A group of 21 children between the ages 5:6 and 9:1 yr. (13 boys, 8 girls) was compared to a control group of 21 chil- dren matched on sex, age, and socioeconomic level using the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test. Children with disorders had signifcantly more Bender errors. Developmental articulation and phonological disorders are observed together in some cases. Although it is possible for articulation and pho- nological disorders to be separate developmental impairments, there are many possible causes of these disorders, including language disorders, mental retardations, neurological problems, hearing loss, cerebral palsy, and orofacial anomalies. There are also many people who have these dis- orders without having any specifc organic, neurological, or physical im- pairment. Exact etiology in these types of articulation disorders remains unknown and the causes cannot be identifed (McReynolds & Elbert, 1982; McReynolds, 1990; Bleile, 2004). In such cases, the disorder may be called a functional disorder; “functional articulation disorder” is the most com- monly used term. Most children with disordered articulation and phonolo- gy do not show any identifable physical reasons for this problem (Owens, Metz, & Haas, 2003). Shriberg (2003) reported that the term “developmen- tal phonological disorder,” which claims to explain nonspecifc disorders through the concept of a universal grammar, has replaced the former term “functional articulation disorder,” which refected poor understanding of the disorder’s origin. Communication problems which stem from decreased speech intelli- gibility have signifcant efects on the academic skills and social develop- ment of the child. In adulthood, phonological disorders can have a neg- ative efect on writing, spelling, reading, and academic skills (Lewis & Freebairn, 1992; Felsenfeld, Broen, & McGue, 1994). Some children with phonological disorders require other types of remedial services, but the majority of them have general academic difculties (Aram, Ekelman, & 1 Address correspondence to Dr. Esra Ozcebe, Cinnah Cad. Alaçam Sok. No. 1/10 Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey or e-mail (eozcebe@gmail.com).