Early communication functioning of infants with cleft lip and palate

This study investigated the early communication functioning and hearing abilities of 44 infants with cleft lip and palate, ages 3 to 31 months old. The results revealed that 64% of the subjects had a history of recurrent otitis media with effusion and 33% displayed associated anomalies. 26% of the subjects had mild hearing losses and middle ear pathology at the time of data collection. The subjects as a group displayed average developmental levels for perceptual-cognitive, socio-personal and receptive language skills, but a limited phonetic repertoire and a statistically significant expressive language delay. The results indicated that the subjects experienced a motor developmental delay, but this was not statistically significant. The implications for early communication intervention are to conduct regular hearing measurements and to conduct regular parent-centered therapy with individualized home programmes. Efforts should be directed towards expanding early communication intervention services to include all infants with cleft lip and palate in South Africa.