The Impact of Early Intervention on Speech and Lexical Development for Toddlers With Cleft Palate: A Retrospective Look at Outcome

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the impact of early intervention on speech and lexical measures for toddlers with cleft palate. Method Speech measures of ten 27-month-old toddlers with cleft palate who had been referred for therapy at 17 months of age were compared to those of 10 toddlers with cleft palate who had been referred but did not receive therapy. Both groups were compared to 2 other groups of children who had never been referred for therapy. Results Multivariate analysis of variance revealed only 1 significant difference between the children who received therapy and those who did not receive therapy. Children who received therapy produced a significantly greater percentage of glides ( p < .001) than did children who did not receive therapy. Conclusion The findings of this study indicated that early intervention as conducted by the speech-language pathologists in this study was not as effective as expected for this group of toddlers with cleft palate.