Cleft Palate Paf/ei/is The Soda / Work

From birth to maturity, the needs of cleft lip and cleft palate patients change. For such pa-tients, fixed teams of specialists headed by a surgeon may not be the best answer. The au-thors outline the clinical characteristics of both deformities and show how social workers are uniquely equipped to coordinate a changing constellation of helpers in an adaptable form of long-term treatment. THE BIRTH of a baby with a cleft lip or cleft palate-the most common congenital defect—transforms a hap-pily awaited event into one of potentially profound psychological trauma. 1 In most cases, the feelings of catastrophe can be ameliorated through knowledge of the available interdisciplinary means of treatment. This, in turn, can facilitate the parents ' psychological acceptance of the child. 2 However, most social workers are unfamiliar with what cleft lip and cleft palate are, or what treatment is available for this birth defect that can serve as a prototype for treating other disabilities as well. Rouillon's article is the only one written in this field from a social work perspective. 3 Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide information about the general clinical char-acteristics of this birth defect, how the changing need