[A new speech training method for patients following cleft palate repair]

A new method of speech training in Chinese was established according to investigations of articulatory phonetics and speech pathology of 50 patients following cleft palate operations. All of these patients were examined thoroughly and were considered to have good velopharyngal function. However, in all of them, the articulation score was lower than 70%. 33 of these 50 patients were treated with the method for a period of 22 to 120 days (average 63 days). Results showed that their articulation improved from 38.4% to 89.5% on average, the improvement in speech was highly significant statistically (P < 0.0001). In addition, the question of correct timing for speech therapy is discussed.