Retained primitive reflexes and their relation to speech intelligibility in a sample of Egyptian children

Abstract Introduction Primitive reflexes are sensory motor reflexes that serve as the foundation of early motor milestones; their persistence indicates a lag in the maturation of higher cortical functions. Speech sound disorder related to errors in phonological development reflects an underlying language development and deficits in phonological and audiological processing. Speech intelligibility reflects the extent of proper sound pronunciation and communicative efficiency. Aim of this work To assess the correlation between speech sound disorder via speech intelligibility and retained primitive reflexes in children between ages 3 and 12. Methods Thirty-two children aged 3.4–9, 18 with phonological SSD and 14 with typical phonological development underwent speech intelligibility tests and primitive reflex assessment. Results A significant correlation was found between retained reflexes, e.g., spinal Galant, Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR), and Symmetrical Tonic Reflex (STNR), and speech intelligibility. Also, this study found a specific relation between certain sounds and others with some reflexes and others, e.g., the Galant reflex correlated the most with speech intelligibility parameters, ATNR with back sound words, and STNR with frontal sound words, suggesting further interactions between the dynamics of speech sound production and retained reflexes in speech sound sequencing. Conclusion Retained primitive reflexes could play a potential role in language perception and production.