Changes in the peripheral speech mechanism of children from the age of 7 to 10 years.

Changes in the morphology and functioning of the speech articulators were assessed in 118 children monitored from the age of 7 to 10 years, and associations between these variables and misarticulations were analyzed. The accuracy of articulatory movements and their coordination improved markedly. There was a relative delay in development of the motor coordination of boys who produced sounds too far posteriorly. Difficulties in tongue movements and their coordination increased the risk for the category of other misarticulations. Difficulties in motor coordination contributed to a lesser extent to articulatory speech disorders in 10-year-olds compared to 7-year-olds. Some new cases of inaccuracy of coordinating the movements refer to the liability of muscle coordination still at the age of 10.