Cleft Palate Speech Therapy

Cleft palate can definitely be treated, oftentimes by surgery. However, some patients need rehabilitation after surgery. Rehabilitation includes cleft palate speech therapy. Let’s talk about what to expect after surgery and what goes on during speech therapy.

Many children actually suffer from developmental articulation or phonology problems. An estimated 6 to 10 percent of all children will have a hard time learning the sounds of English and will need speech therapy, even though they do not have a cleft palate or related structural problems. This means that most individuals who have had surgery for cleft palate are likely to require speech therapy afterwards.

In some cases, a child with a cleft palate may develop compensatory articulations. He or she will generally make sounds that are farther back in the mouth or throat compared to what is normally done in normal speech. Compensatory articulations can also include snorting through the nasal passages as in a posterior nasal fricative. The consequence of having these untreated or overlooked is the child’s speech sounding incoherent when used occasionally.

Oftentimes after surgery, the child may produce nasal sounds as audible blows of air break out from the nose while he or she is talking. In this case, it is known as hypernasality. This makes the child’s speech difficult to understand and therefore pose insecurities and/or social issues. These symptoms are generally very difficult to treat and it is mainly because the surgical procedure was inadequate. Nevertheless, healthcare specialists will recommend cleft palate speech therapy. When speech therapy fails, a second surgery is usually required.

Speech therapy aims to reduce the symptoms of hypernasality, weak pressure consonants, and nasal air emission. This is usually based on trial and error.

Speech therapy can involve non-speech exercises like gagging, blowing and sucking conducted by simple devices such as straws and other objects that stimulate natural reflexes. Muscle strengthening exercises can be used to improve hypernasality, as the soft palate is also made up of muscles. The idea behind these exercises is that stronger muscles from training will eventually enhance overall speech capabilities. Newer techniques are being tried and tested in hopes to improve the function of the palate when speech impairment is present.

Furthermore, there are speech therapy methods that don’t improve function of the palate physically, but rather disguise the symptoms of hypernasality and audible nasal air emission. These methods may involve opening the mouth more frequently while talking, speaking louder, or decreasing contact pressure of the articulators while talking. Although these can be effective, children normally feel uncomfortable consciously watching their speech in those manners for long periods of time, which makes these methods difficult to apply.

When considering speech therapy it is advisable to take your child to a speech therapist as early as possible, typically when he or she is between the ages of 18 months to 2 years. This way, the therapist can offer immediate treatment, which includes language and speech stimulation games. Always see a healthcare professional for medical advice and treatment.