Diagnosis and Treatment of Speech Disorders in Children With a Cleft (Lip and) Palate: A State-Of-The-Art Overview.

Abstract

In children born with a cleft in the palate with or without a cleft in the lip (CP±L), velopharyngeal insufficiency may persist even after successful surgical closure of the palate. This results in speech disorders including both resonance and speech sound disorders. These speech disorders may have a severe impact on the children's speech understandability and speech acceptability which may, in turn, influence psychosocial well-being, quality of life, and inclusion into society. This article provides an overview of the most important speech characteristics per age group (ie, 0-4​​​​​​, 4-6, 6-12, and >12 y). In addition, a state-of-the-art overview of current practices in speech diagnosis and speech intervention is included.