Phonetic and phonologic skills of two-year-olds with cleft palate

This article examines the phonetic and phonologic skills of 2-year-olds with cleft palate. Fifteen children, 10 children with cleft palate and five noncleft children, participated in the study. The children with cleft palate all received palatal surgery after 12 months of age and after the onset of meaningful speech. All subjects were video and audiotaped while interacting with their mothers during unstructured play. At least one hundred different spontaneous word productions were phonetically transcribed and analyzed for (1) percent consonants correct, (2) phonologic processes, and (3) "compensatory" articulation patterns. A comparison between the groups indicated that although the children with cleft palate exhibited more errors overall, they were similar to their noncleft peers in their phonologic process usage with two exceptions. Additionally, few "compensatory" articulation errors were noted in the speech of these children.