SPEECH STUDIES AND THE UNOPERATED CLEFT-PALATE SUBJECT

This paper is a critical review of the studies of patients who have es tablished their speech in the presence of an unoperated cleft palate. The review details the weaknesses of many of the studies in this area, and in so doing highlights the methodological issues that need to be considered in the investigation of cleft palate speech. For example, i ssues such as the method of speech analysis and the importance of reli ability studies are discussed. The need to control for variables such as age at palatal surgery, cleft type and patients' surgical experienc e is highlighted. Such principles are equally applicable to those stud ies in which palatal surgery is carried out at more conventional ages.