by AfS Photographer Linda Hart

As many of you may know, there has always been a place for a Speech Pathologist on the team.  Today, I sat with our team’s Susanna Upton to find out more about the role of the Speech Pathologist.

Susanna explained that her role in the opening clinic is to complete an Auditory Perceptual Speech Assessment to determine if a patient needs speech therapy or speech surgery.  During this time, she also identifies speech therapy strategies and counsels parents on realistic speech expectations.

Susanna explained that children born with cleft palate will have fewer consonants compared to children whose palate is intact.  Because of this, they do not get the reactions from their parents that their non-cleft peers receive.  This leads to their use of language being delayed.

Some of the children develop their own “workarounds”, called maladapative compensatory articulations.  These can become habitual and require a lot of speech therapy.

For patients who have palate surgery, Susanna spends time with the mothers teaching them what to look for and how to correct and encourage their child’s speech so that they are able to make the most of their palate repair.

Thank you to the Rotary Club of Venice-Nokomis and District 9112 for making this mission possible!