Vocalizations of toddlers with cleft lip and palate

This study examined the early vocalizations of toddlers with cleft lip and palate. Ten toddlers, ranging in age from 12 to 14 months, served as subjects: five toddlers with cleft lip and palate and five noncleft toddlers. Samples of the toddler's spontaneous vocalizations were obtained while they interacted with their mothers during an unstructured play session. All speech-like vocalizations were transcribed, and comparisons were made between the cleft and noncleft groups for (1) size of consonant inventory, (2) type and frequency of occurrence of consonants, and (3) frequency and type of multisyllabic productions. Results indicated differences in the consonant inventories and multisyllabic productions of the two groups of toddlers.