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 w ere assessed in 118 children monitored from the age of 7 to 10 years, and associations between these variables and misarticulations were ana lyzed. The accuracy of articulatory movements and their coordination i mproved markedly. There was a relative delay in development of the mot or coordination of boys who produced sounds too far posteriorly. Diffi culties in tongue movements and their coordination increased the risk for the category of other misarticulations. Difficulties in motor coor dination contributed to a lesser extent to articulatory speech disorde rs in 10-year-olds compared to 7-year-olds. Some new cases of inaccura cy of coordinating the movements refer to the lability of muscle coord ination still at the age of 10.