Unga vuxna med unilateral läpp-, käk- och gomspalt – perceptuell bedömning och självskattning av tal och kommunikation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate how young adults with unilateral cleft lip and palate assess their own speech and communication, and to let speech and language pathologists make a perceptual analysis of these individuals’ speech at the age of 19 years. An additional aim was to examine the relationship between these two different ways of evaluation. Data was collected through perceptual analysis from audio recordings and by using a self-report questionnaire based on the ICF-structure (International Classification of Function, disability and health). Altogether, 33 people participated. One third of the participants had no speech deficiencies. Two thirds had some type of deviation in nasality, mainly hypernasality or hyponasality. The professional analysis did not correlate with the self evaluation of nasality and indistinct speech. The participants experienced their speech as even better than a normal population. The validity of the questionnaire was discussed.