The Meldreth dribble control project reassessed

Abstract

An experiment was devised whose primary aim was to assess whether task concentration affected dribble control with eight ESN(S) cerebral palsied children who had been trained to associate an auditory cue with swallowing. The investigation was inconclusive as far as its main objective was concerned. The results indicate that previous researchers were measuring dribble production using an inherently unreliable sampling procedure. Also their claims for the effectiveness of the method can perhaps be considered rather over-optimistic in regard to its clinical use for long term dribble control.