抄録
A seminar on the assessment of cleft palate speech hosted by the Japancleft Committee, Japanese Cleft Palate Association, was held at the University Hospital and the Sanjo Conference Hall, the University of Tokyo on January 31 and February 1, 2015. The purpose of the seminar was to increase awareness of the issues on standardized speech assessment among Japanese speech and language therapists and researchers in the field, and to propose a standardized system which is compatible with international approaches. A training protocol for valid and reliable assessment is to be developed, taking lessons from experiences in the UK and Ireland. Dr. Debbie Sell and Dr. Triona Sweeney, who developed the Cleft Audit Protocol for Speech-Augmented (CAPS-A) and a training package, were invited as lecturers at the seminar. The number of participants was 134, including 67 speech therapists, 57 dentists, and 10 plastic surgeons.
The questionnaire survey at the end of the seminar revealed that the importance of developing a standardized assessment system in Japan was fully recognized. From now on, efforts to develop a standardized assessment system will be continued by the working group in the Japancleft Committee.
