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Copyright of Canadian Journal of Counselling & Psychotherapy / Revue Canadienne de Counseling et de Psychothérapie is the property of Canadian Counselling & Psychotherapy Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Degree of lateralization for grasping predicts the maturity of the language production system in young, typically-developing children. In this report we provide compelling evidence for the relationship between right hand grasp-to-mouth (i.e., feeding) movements and language development. Specifically, we show that children (4-5 years old) who are more right-hand lateralized in picking up small food items for consumption show enhanced differentiation of the "s" and "sh" sounds. This result suggests that left hemisphere control of hand-to-mouth gestures may have provided an evolutionary platform for the development of language. The current investigation presents the exciting possibility that early right hand-to-mouth training could accelerate the development of articulation skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]