The Assessment of Articulation and Phonological Skills in Preschool Cleft Palate Children

There has been a lack of comprehensive analyses of the articulation and phonological skills of preschool cleft palate children. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis, following a model suggested by Ingram (1981), was completed on three preschool children with cleft palates. The analysis was completed on a videotaped conversational play sample. Each sample was transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), compensatory substitution symbols, and diacritics. The samples were analyzed for a phonetic inventory of the sounds in the initial, medial, and final positions of words; for homonyms; for substitutions, distortions, and omissions; and for phonological processes. Each of the four analyses was summarized on a summary sheet. The results of the study indicated that each of the four analyses provides information that would enhance intervention planning. The results demonstrated that the subjects appeared to benefit more from some of the analyses than others. Each subject scored differently on the whole analysis. This was not predictable from the former testing results available for the subjects. Therefore, it seems essential that a comprehensive speech analysis be provided for preschool children who have cleft palates and are at risk of articulation and phonological delay