The Effects of Unrepaired Cleft Palate on Early Language Development in Chinese Infants

Objective: To investigate the effects of unrepaired cleft palate on the development of vocabulary comprehension and expression of Chinese children aged 8 to 15 months. Methods: The parents or caregivers of 40 infants with unrepaired cleft palate were recruited from the Cleft Lip and Palate Center at the Stomatology School of Peking University. Vocabulary development was assessed using a parent report protocol, the Chinese Communicative Development Inventory: Infant, for Putonghua (PCDI: Infant). The scores for vocabulary comprehension and expression of infants with clefts were compared with typically developing infants in the same age group. Results: All infants with unrepaired cleft palate performed below the typically developing infants in vocabulary comprehension, but there were no significant differences from 8 to 15 months of age. No significant differences were found from 8 to 13 months of age on the expressive vocabulary portion of the Chinese Communicative Development Inventory: Infant, for Putonghua. However, a significant difference appeared at 14 and 15 months, with infants with cleft palate performing at a significantly lower level than the typically developing infants. Conclusion: The development of vocabulary comprehension in Chinese infants younger than 14 months with unrepaired cleft palate is not significantly delayed. At 14 and 15 months, however, the development of vocabulary expression is delayed. The reasons may be found in the specific phonetic characteristics of Putonghua.