Perception of place of articulation by children with cleft palate and posterior placement

The aim of this study was to determine if children with repaired cleft palate who demonstrate posterior placement of alveolar targets (e.g., /t(h)/ --> [k(h)]), known as Group P, differ from children with cleft palate without such an error pattern (Group NP) and from normally developing children without cleft palate (Group N) in the perception of /t(h)/ and /k(h)/. Ten age-matched children in each of these three groups identified 8 synthetic stimuli along an acoustic continuum ranging from /t(h)/ to /k(h)/. The children with posterior placement performed at random levels, appearing unable to distinguish /t(h)/ from /k(h)/. In contrast, both groups of children without posterior placement demonstrated a clear identification pattern. These results, which suggest that children with cleft palate and posterior placement have a perceptual deficit, contribute to discussion of the possible etiology of speech deficits in this population.