Interrelationships Among Oral Breath Pressure Ratios and Articulation Skills for Individuals with Cleft Palate

Abstract

Interrelationships among four breath pressure ratios, eight measures of articulation proficiency, age, intelligence, and hearing acuity were computed for 85 children from four to 18 years who had cleft lip and palate. Of the breath pressure ratios, the ratio based on positive readings with bleed relates highest to the measures of articulation skill. Of the measures of articulation skill, the plosive—elements test and the stimulation test correlate most highly with the pressure ratios. The stimulation test is the single measure which correlates highest with both articulation and pressure ratios, and can be considered to most clearly reflect ability to achieve velopharyngeal closure in speech.