Speech Production Disorders Related to Cleft Palate and Velopharyngeal Inadequacy

Speakers with cleft palate show different speech production disorders due to the structural defect of the palate and the velopharyngeal mechanism. these disorders involve voice, resonance and articulation. the present study aims at investigating the speech performance of two school-age, iraqi arabic speaking children with cleft palate. arabic cleft palate speech data are rare (hardin- jones, 2009, personal communication). thus, this paper intends to study the different speech errors demonstrated by arabic cleft palate speakers including resonance and articulation. it describes the 'compensatory articulation patterns ' used by them to compensate for velopharyngeal inadequacy. in addition, it compares these patterns with the patterns used by english cleft palate speakers and offers some findings in addition to observations.