| Description |
The purpose of this study was to examine the speech/language skills of children with cleft palate and their noncleft peers at 39 months, profile the speech/language outcomes of children with cleft palate at 39 months, and extend previous studies examining pre- and postsurgery speech/language skills that predict later speech/language outcomes of children with cleft palate at 39 months. Participants included 66 children, 43 children with cleft palate and 23 noncleft children. Spontaneous speech/language samples were collected at 9 months, postsurgery (approximately 13 months), 21 months, and 39 months of age in the child's home during an interaction with the caregiver. Speech and language measures were calculated using computer software programs and hand calculations. Children were classified into one of the four speech/language outcome profiles using descriptive statistics. Results of the between-group comparisons revealed the children with cleft palate had fewer consonant sounds, produced less accurate consonants for the majority of the place and manner categories, and had lower mean length of utterances than their noncleft peers. Within-group comparisons revealed the risk factors gender, maternal education, and resonance were associated with poorer speech outcomes for children with cleft palate at 39 months. The profile normal velopharyngeal mechanism and delayed speech and/or language had the highest membership (41%). Correlations between pre- and postsurgery measures and later speech/language outcomes at 39 months revealed negative correlations between 9 month predictors and all outcome measures. All other predictors were positively correlated with the speech outcome measures at 39 months. True consonant inventory and stop production measures at 21 months were the best predictors of the profile normal velopharyngeal mechanism and normal speech/language. These results suggest that children with cleft palate have poorer speech/language outcomes than noncleft peers at 39 months of age. There is a need for children with cleft palate to receive earlier speech/language intervention to help them catch up with their noncleft peers. Finally, the strongest correlations were found between true consonant inventory and stop production at age 21 months, suggesting that 21 months is the best predictive age for speech and language outcomes at 39 months. |
