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Speech and language development in toddlers with and without cleft palate

G H Priester1, S M Goorhuis-Brouwer

  • 1School of Health Care, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, PO Box 10900, 8000 GB, Zwolle, The Netherlands. Hg.priester@windesheim.nl

International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology
|April 4, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Early palate closure surgery positively impacts speech and language development in children with cleft palate. However, hypernasality remains a significant concern, necessitating further speech therapy and surgical interventions.

Area of Science:

  • Craniofacial surgery
  • Speech and language pathology
  • Pediatric audiology

Background:

  • Cleft palate significantly impacts speech and language development.
  • Early surgical intervention aims to improve communicative outcomes.
  • Conductive hearing loss is prevalent in children with clefts.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the effect of early palate closure on speech and language development in children with cleft palate.
  • To compare speech and language outcomes between children with and without cleft palate.
  • To identify persistent challenges in communicative development post-surgery.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative study involving 43 toddlers with cleft palate and 32 controls.
  • Standardized tests assessed language comprehension and production.
  • Speech therapists evaluated articulation and hypernasality.

Main Results:

  • No significant differences in language comprehension, production, or articulation between groups.
  • Significant hypernasality observed in children with cleft palate (35% vs. 0%).
  • Articulation issues were more common than language production problems in both groups.

Conclusions:

  • Early palate closure effectively aids language development and articulation.
  • Hypernasality persists in 30-50% of children with cleft palate, requiring speech therapy and pharyngoplasty.
  • Current articulation standards may be too stringent; further research on developmental variations is needed.
Abstract

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