Technical reading and writing skills and their relationship with linguistic processes in children with a cleft (lip and) palate : a comparison with peers

Introduction: Poor word decoding skills and writing skills can impact job opportunities and psychosocial functioning. Despite the importance of identifying possible literacy problems for the child's future performance, there seems to be no consensus on this topic in children with a cleft of the palate with or without a cleft of the lip (CP +/- L). The aim of this study was to investigate reading and writing skills and their relationship with linguistic processes in Dutch-speaking children with a CP +/- L compared to a group of children without a CP +/- L. Methods: Twelve children with a CP +/- L and 12 children without a CP +/- L (age range 7-12 years) were included in the study. The 2 groups were matched based on age, gender, and socioeconomic status. An assessment battery including language, reading, and writing tests was administered to both groups. Results: No statistically significant differences in reading and writing skills were found when comparing children with and without a CP +/- L. Interestingly, a moderate correlation was found between the children's reading skills and phonological awareness. Moderate correlations were also revealed between writing skills and several working memory tasks. Discussion/Conclusion: Our findings did not provide evidence for any difference in word decoding skills and writing skills between children with a CP +/- L and their peers. Some linguistic processes, more specifically phonological awareness and working memory, are important factors that contribute to the child's literacy development. Identification of these linguistic skills can provide important information on the child's future reading and writing performance. Future studies should increase sample sizes to confirm these results