Speech problems CLP

[Anonymous]

My 9 year old has severe speech problems. She had a pharyngoplasty at 5 and has had speech therapy since. please help
Fiona

[Sue Newark,Ohio]

We are going on 5 years now that we have dealt with Wills' cleft lip/palate. Speech has been a great help.Been involved for 3 years with it.Started out using sign language. And then progressed to sounds and words. We are now dealing with mushy speech.If you have any ideas we would appreciate them.

[Jeff Alterman]

I had a problem with sloppy sounding speech when I was a child and that isn't uncommon in many young children since they're not fully developed. Part of my problem is the fact that I have a submucous cleft hard palate which causes my soft palate to be positioned too low so my speech is still nasal though now it is minimal. Having Asperger's Syndrome didn't help either though the effects on my speech from the Asperger's Syndrome have largely disappeared. In the case of your son Will, there may still be some problems due to his cleft lip/palate, but that should diminish as he gets older. Plenty of practice should help with your son's "mushy" speech. A speech therapist should also be able to help Will with his speech.


Jeff Alterman at alterman@bestweb.net