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Updated: May 6, 2026

Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
Reading in subjects with an oral cleft: speech, hearing and neuropsychological skills
Amy L Conrad1, Thomasin E McCoy2, Ian DeVolder2
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa Children's Hospital.
Objective:
To evaluate speech, hearing, and neuropsychological correlates to reading among children, adolescents, and young adults with nonsyndromic cleft of the lip and/or palate (NSCL/P).
Method:
All testing was completed in a single visit at a Midwestern university hospital. Subjects in both the NSCL/P (n = 80) and the control groups (n = 62) ranged in age from 7-26 years (average age = 17.60 and 17.66, respectively). Subjects completed a battery of standardized tests evaluating intelligence, neuropsychological skills, and word reading. Subjects with NSCL/P also underwent speech assessment, and past audiology records were evaluated.
Results:
After controlling for age and socioeconomic status, subjects with cleft performed significantly worse on a test of word reading. For subjects with cleft, word reading deficits were not associated with measures of speech or hearing, but were correlated with impairments in auditory memory.
Conclusion:
These findings show poorer reading among subjects with NSCL/P compared with those without. Further work needs to focus on correlates of reading among subjects with cleft to allow early identification and appropriate intervention/accommodation for those at risk.
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