Cleft+Palate

=__Cleft Palate__=
 * Standard: III-C **


 * Defined: Congenital malformations of the palate which may extend through the uvula, soft palate, hard palate, and lip due to disruptions of the embryonic growth processes.


 * Cleft classification: [|American Cleft Palate Association]*While several classification systems of clefts exist, none is universally used.
 * Cleft lip
 * Cleft of the alveolar process
 * Cleft of the prepalate
 * Clefts of the palate
 * Clefts of the prepalate and palate
 * Facial clefts
 * Microforms


 * SLPs role in cleft palate: Evaluation and treatment of articulation, language development, phonation, and resonance.[|American Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Association Core Curriculum for SLPs]


 * Communication disorders associated with clefts: The most significant are articulation disorders, impaired resonance, oral language disorders, and velopharyngeal incompetence.
 * Articulation disorders: Primarily substitutions and omissions with some distortions. Unvoiced sounds are more difficult than voiced. There is a deficit in sounds that require a build up of intraoral pressure. Substitutions of nasal sounds for nonnasal sounds. Increased difficulty producing consonant clusters. Distortion of vowels. Decreased rate of speech.
 * Impaired resonance: Hypernasality of vowels and voiced oral consonants. Hyponasality and denasality.
 * Oral language disorders: Initial delayed language developement with signiciant improvement as they age. Babies vocalize less. During early langauge development children produce more words beginning with nasals, vowels, velars, labials, and glottals. Shorter mean length of utterance. Slower mastry of social communication skills. If cleft is associated with genetic disorders, significant language disorders are more likely to exist. Otitus media which may negatively effect early langauge development.
 * Velopharyngeal incompetence: Audible or inaudible nasal emission due to velophyarngeal dysfunction.

References: Hegde, M.N. (2008). //Hegde's Pocketguide to Communication Disorders//. New York: Delmar Learning.

Nicolosi, L., Harryman, E., & Kresheck, J. (2004). Terminology of Communication Disorders. Maryland: Lippincott Williams &Wilkins. Stoll et al. (2004). //Patients with clefts//. From http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2350/5/15/figure/F1.

Wornom, I &Will, L. et al. (2007). //Core curriculum for cleft palate and other craniofacial anomalies//--classification and anatomy. From [].