Brain Damage, Reading Disability and the Bender Gestalt Test

Abstract

The Bender Gestalt Test should be used in the diagnosis of brain damage in children only in combination with other test data and information. By itself, the Bender Test can reveal neurological malfunctioning which may be due to many different causes; brain injury is only one of them. The Bender Test is an effective screening instrument for school beginners. Reading problems can be diagnosed with the Bender Test only if they derive in part from difficulties in visual-motor perception, but not if they are caused primarily by language disabilities or specific memory deficits.