How does cleft palate affect speech development?

How does cleft palate affect speech development?

Speech Sound Development: Children born with cleft palate may have a delay in the beginning of speech and development of speech sounds. In addition, children with cleft palate may produce speech errors that are directly related to clefting.

What speech sounds are affected by a cleft palate?

Compensatory misarticulations are speech problems that are unique to children with a cleft palate. These sounds can sound like the pause in the middle of the word, “uh-oh” (a glottal stop). They can also sound like growling or “throat” sounds.

What problems are associated with cleft lip and palate?

Children with a cleft lip with or without a cleft palate or a cleft palate alone often have problems with feeding and speaking clearly and can have ear infections. They also might have hearing problems and problems with their teeth.

What is developmental apraxia of speech?

Overview. Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is an uncommon speech disorder in which a child has difficulty making accurate movements when speaking. In CAS , the brain struggles to develop plans for speech movement.

What is the role of the speech language pathologist on a cleft palate team?

A speech pathologist is a critical part of your child’s cleft palate team. Speech pathologists provide support from the early days by assisting with feeding and into childhood as your child masters speech with the continuous changes they will undergo the first few years of life.

What are cleft speech characteristics?

Speech development is then discussed from a phonological perspective interpreting reported characteristics as ‘cleft-type developmental processes’, for example, lack of target stabilisation; compensatory articulations; active/passive strategies; and systematic sound preference.

How is cleft lip and palate managed?

Children with a cleft lip or palate will need several treatments and assessments as they grow up. A cleft is usually treated with surgery. Other treatments, such as speech therapy and dental care, may also be needed. Your child will be cared for by a specialist cleft team at an NHS cleft centre.

What causes a child to have a speech delay?

What Causes Speech or Language Delays? A speech delay might be due to: an oral impairment, like problems with the tongue or palate (the roof of the mouth) a short frenulum (the fold beneath the tongue), which can limit tongue movement.

Does Apraxia affect eating?

Oral Apraxia is a disorder where a child exhibits difficulty easily coordinating and initiating movement of the jaw, lips, tongue and soft palate. This may impact feeding and/or speech skills.

What’s the difference between cleft lip and palate?

A cleft lip is an opening in the upper lip; a cleft palate is an opening in the roof of the mouth. In both cases, an opening forms because the facial structure doesn’t close completely during development. A child can be born with one or both of these conditions.

How does a cleft palate affect speech?

If your palate doesn’t work as well as it should because of a cleft, your speech can be affected in two main ways: Sounding nasal – this is caused by the palate not properly separating the mouth from the nose and letting air escape through the nose while speaking.

Can a baby have both a cleft lip and cleft palate?

A baby can have a cleft lip, cleft palate, or both. A cleft lip may be on one or both sides of the upper lip. The split may also be in the upper jaw and gum. A cleft palate is an opening in the roof of the mouth. The front part is the bony hard palate. The back part is the soft palate, made of muscle.

What is the treatment pathway for children with a cleft lip?

These problems can often be missed or misdiagnosed, but thankfully the treatment pathway for children with a cleft includes speech and language assessments to ensure that any issues with speech are identified and managed early on. What does Speech and Language Therapy Involve?

Why does the soft palate move up and down when talking?

The soft palate (the part towards your throat) moves upwards and backwards when you talk. This is part of how your nose is separated from your mouth – your soft palate moves to make sure no air escapes through your nose when you make certain sounds. The palate moves up and back for sounds like p, t, g, sh, and ch.