Cleft palate. Diagnosis

The necessary information for diagnosis of "cleft palate speech" is available from clinical speech pathology tests and observations for the majority of patients. Test findings about error type and stimulability often give direction to our decisions about speech therapy. Other kinds of tests are useful for confirming these findings or for other purposes. Trial speech therapy is a very useful diagnostic procedure. Problem patients (those who fail to make suitable progress) should be referred without hesitation to a cleft palate team, or to a colleague who is an SLP on that team. Referrals to other specialists should be made appropriately, using careful, clear referral language.