Wu J, Chen Y R, Noordhoff M S
Department of Plastic Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Ann Acad Med Singap. 1988 Jul;17(3):384-7.
Prior to 1982, children with cleft palate received delayed hard palate closure at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. In this treatment, soft palate is usually repaired with Widmaier palatoplasty at about 18 months with surgery; hard palate is not closed until the age of 6 or 7. Our previous study indicated that the articulation skill of the cleft palate children before delayed hard palate closure is generally far inferior to the non-cleft children of the same age. Further investigation was carried out to look into the articulation proficiency and error patterns of the cleft palate children undergoing delayed hard palate closure. Data of 47 children (32 boys, 15 girls) were analyzed. Articulation proficiency was compared in four phoneme categories: nasals, plosives, fricatives and affricates. The results indicated that affricates are most difficult for Chinese cleft palate children to pronounce. At age 5, just before the hard palate closure, none of the phonemes is produced correctly except nasals.
1982年以前，长庚纪念医院对腭裂患儿采用延迟硬腭关闭术。在这种治疗方法中，软腭通常在18个月左右通过维德迈尔腭成形术进行修复；硬腭直到6、7岁才关闭。我们之前的研究表明，腭裂患儿在延迟硬腭关闭术前的发音技巧普遍远低于同龄的非腭裂儿童。我们进一步开展调查，以研究接受延迟硬腭关闭术的腭裂患儿的发音熟练度和错误模式。分析了47名儿童（32名男孩，15名女孩）的数据。对鼻辅音、塞音、擦音和塞擦音这四类音素的发音熟练度进行了比较。结果表明，塞擦音对中国腭裂儿童来说最难发音。在5岁时，即硬腭关闭前，除了鼻辅音外，没有一个音素能正确发出。
