2017 Volume 42 Issue 1 Pages 1-6
We investigated the timing of acquiring the articulation of consonants ［p, k, t, ɕ, s, ts］, and the speech outcome at 5 years of age for 31 cleft palate patients who had undergone palatoplasty at Kyoto University Hospital from 2003 to 2008 and regular clinical management by speech therapists.
The results were as follows:
1. The patients who had not required speech therapy acquired the consonants in the same order ［p, k, t, ɕ, s, ts］ and at almost the same age as the children without cleft palate.
2. The speech outcome at 5 years of age was as follows:
Articulation: normal articulation was 70.9％, palatal articulation and lateral articulation were 12.9％, glottal stop and delayed articulation acquisition were both 6.5％.
Velopharyngeal function: Excellent accounted for 54.8％, Good for 32.2％, Fair and Poor for 6.5％.
3. Most patients who had acquired ［p］ within 1 year after palatoplasty had Excellent or Good velopharyngeal function, while some patients had delayed acquisition of alveolar consonants ［t, s, ts］ and had articulation disorder at 5 years of age.
