Read the text “Speech and Clefts”. Use dictionary if necessary.

More than 200,000 children are born with cleft lip and cleft palate each year, and the condition threatens both the life and livelihood of the child. A cleft is an opening in the lip, the roof of the mouth or the soft tissue in the back of the mouth. A cleft lip may be accompanied by an opening in the bones of the upper jaw and/or the upper gum. A cleft palate occurs when the two sides of a palate do not join together, resulting in an opening in the roof of the mouth. A cleft lip and palate can occur on one side or both sides. A child can suffer from a cleft lip, a cleft palate or both.

The exact cause is unknown. Cleft lips and cleft palates are congenital defects that occur early in embryonic development. Scientists believe a combination of genetic and environmental factors, such as maternal illness, drugs or malnutrition, may lead to a cleft lip or cleft palate. If one child in a family is born with a cleft, the risk increases by 2 to 4 percent that future children in the family will suffer from the same defect.

Scientists are researching methods to prevent cleft lips and palates. One finding, according to research studies, is that mothers who take multivitamins containing folic acid before conception and during the first two months of pregnancy may reduce their risk of giving birth to a baby with a cleft.

Clefts cause problems for a child. Ear disease and dental problems occur frequently, as do problems with proper speech development. Children who suffer from a cleft lip and/or cleft palate may have difficulty eating. To address these issues, a child and family may work with a team of specialists — a pediatrician, a plastic surgeon, dental specialists, an otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat specialist), a speech-language pathologist and audiologist, a geneticist and a psychologist/social worker.

Cleft lip and palate surgery provides excellent results. A pediatrician and a plastic surgeon work with a child's parents to choose the best timing for surgery. Most surgeons agree that a cleft lip should be repaired by the time a baby is 3 months old. To repair the partition of mouth and nose as early as possible, a cleft palate generally is repaired between the ages of 12 and 18 months. Any surgical procedure is dependent upon a child's general health and the nature of the cleft lip or cleft palate.

The best general advice for parents of children with clefts of the palate is to encourage and stimulate speech just like with any child, but not to expect the same precision and distinctness in the sounds and not to press their child to make the sounds more clearly. They should talk with their child, name things, share experiences and be pleased with their child's attempts to talk. Children with cleft palates, like any other children, do not know they cannot be understood clearly unless they are constantly reminded.

Another question you may have is whether speech therapy will be necessary after repair of the cleft palate. It is impossible to determine this beforehand. The cleft palate team speech pathologist will be able to make this determination more accurately after seeing your child many times. Some children require little therapy, while others may need several months or years and some (luckily very few) may require a special surgical intervention (pharyngoplasty).

The child must, first of all, learn to direct the air stream through the mouth instead of through the nose as has been his or her habit. This ability is crucial for normal sound production. Teaching the consonant sounds to cleft palate children is often more difficult than teaching them to children with speech defects, caused with other reasons. As the consonant sounds are essential for intelligibility of speech, it is usually wise to teach consonants first even though the vowels are still nasalized.

III. 1. Answer the questions:

1) Are clefts dangerous for the health of children? Can those children survive without any treatment?

2) What parts of the articulatory apparatus are affected with the clefts?

3) What kind of treatment is required for the clefts?

4) Is surgical intervention necessary or can the children do without it?

5) When do usually children with the clefts start speaking? Is speech affected with the clefts?

6) What can parents do to promote their children speaking?

7) Is the complete cure possible? Or do the clefts leave a mark for the rest of the life?

8) What speech therapy treatment do the children with the clefts need?

2. Say whether the following statements are true or false and give the full answer:

1) Clefts are caused with the organic damage of the central nervous system.

2) All clefts must be operated on.

3) The children with the clefts cannot speak.

4) The speech of the children with the clefts is indistinct.

5) The children with the clefts start speaking later than their peers.

6) The nasalization of sounds is typical for the speech of the children with the clefts.

7) The substitution of sounds is very characteristic for the speech of the children with the clefts.

8) The presence of the clefts affects the further development of the child.

9) Clefts are caused with the early traumas.

10) The children with the clefts can attend ordinary mainstream schools.

3. Fill in the blanks with the active words:

1) A cleft lip may be … by an opening in the bones of the upper jaw and/or the upper ....

2) Cleft lips and cleft palates are … defects that occur early in … development.

3) Children who suffer from a cleft lip and/or cleft palate may have … ….

4) Cleft lip and palate … provides excellent results

5) The palates should be closed at the age of … months.

6) Any surgical procedure is dependent upon a child's general … and … of the cleft lip or cleft palate.

7) The best general advice for parents is to … and … their child speaking.

8) The … of sounds is very characteristic for the speech of the children with the clefts.

9) It is wise to teach children … first, although … are still indistinct.

10) … are essential for the intelligibility of speech.

4. Continue the sentences:

1) Cleft palate is…

2) Cleft lip is…

3) Clefts affect…

4) The speech of the children with the clefts is…

5) The sounds are…

6) The closure of the clefts…

7) The re- education may begin…

8) It may take…

5. Find the synonyms in the text:

- unclosing, unfolding;

- roof of the mouth;

- problems;

-the understanding of speech;

-to be connected;

- an operation;

-to change, to influence;

-to try;

-clear, correct pronunciation of sounds.

Which word in the list is odd?

1) mouth, tongue, throat walls, throat, larynx;

2) substitution, pronunciation, distortion, omission;

3) the closure of the palate, an operative intervention, surgical repair, medical treatment, pharyngoplasty , speech therapy;

4) re- education, speech therapy work, acquiring the ability to speak, an operation;

5) to change, to influence, to affect, to carry out;

6) ear infections, hearing loss, brain traumas, severe damage of the central nervous system.