Cleft Palate: Does it Influence Cognition and Language Acquisition?

The cognitive and language development of children with cleft palate lip (CPL) have been investigated for more than 50 years. Early studies in this field of research did not report on major differences between the language or cognitive abilities of children with CPL and their normally developing peers. Most of these early studies used general IQ tests as a tool. More recent studies, however, do report on differences. These studies also consider toddlers and adults and investigate the prevalence of learning disorders as well as the biological basis for cognitive processes. In which way these language and cognitive deficits manifest themselves will be outlined in the following on the basis of Hardin-Jones' review article.