Clinical Pediatrics: Open Access
Open Access
ISSN: 2572-0775
ISSN: 2572-0775
Antonia Margarita Chacon, Melissa Parkin, Kate Broome and Alison Purcell
The University of Sydney, Australia
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Clin Pediatr OA
Introduction & Aim: The speech of children with cleft palate differs from their typically-developing, same-aged peers. The cleft palate literature lacks research examining how speech errors change over time in the cleft population, and how these errors influence a childā??s production of mono- and polysyllabic words. This study aims to explore the speech skills of 3 and 5-year-old children with cleft palate, and how these change over time. Method: Three (n=30) and 5-year-old (n=21) participants were purposively sampled from the Sydney Childrenā??s Hospital Network, Randwick Cleft Lip and Palate clinic. Each child was assessed using the diagnostic evaluation of articulation and phonology (DEAP) articulation subtest and a non-standardised list of mono- and polysyllabic words. The profile of Phonology (PROPH) software program was used to analyse the speech errors produced by each child. Results: Children with cleft palate produced more errors than their peers at three years of age. No significant difference was found for children with cleft palate aged five years. Only the three-year-old children produced more speech errors in polysyllabic, as opposed to monosyllabic words. The three-year-old group demonstrated more phonetic and phonological speech errors than the five-year-old. Conclusion: Children with cleft palate are prone to phonetic and phonological speech errors at preschool-age. By five years, the speech of these children largely approximates that of their typically-developing peers. Word shape has an influence on speech accuracy, but only at the age of three years. Overall these findings support early and ongoing speech pathology management to abate the effect of cleft palate upon a childā??s speech outcomes.
E-mail: acha1503@uni.sydney.edu.au