A comparative study of prespeech vocalizations in two groups of toddlers with cleft palate and a noncleft group

Objective: This study examined the prelinguistic contoid (consonant-like) i nventories of 14 children with unilateral cleft lip and palate (C-UCLP) at 13 months of age. The children had received primary veloplasty at 7 months of age and closure of the hard palate was performed at 3-5 years. The resul ts of this investigation were compared to results previously reported for 1 9 children with cleft palate and 19 noncleft children at the age of 13 mont hs. The children with clefts in that study received a two-stage palatal sur gery. This surgical procedure was formerly used at our center and included closure of the lip and hard palate at 3 months of age and soft palate closu re at 22 months of age. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: The participants were videorecorded in their homes during play wit h their mothers. The videotapes were transcribed independently by three tra ined speech pathologists. Patients: Fourteen consecutive patients born with C-UCLP and no known menta l retardation or associated syndromes served as subjects. Results: The children who received delayed closure of the hard palate demon strated a significantly richer variety of contoids in their prespeech vocal izations than the cleft children in the comparison group. Both groups of su bjects with clefts had significantly fewer plosives in their contoid invent ory than the noncleft group, and there was no difference regarding place of articulation between the group that received delayed closure of the hard p alate and the noncleft group.