The purpose of this study was to investigate how young adults withunilateral cleft lip and palate assess their own speech and communication,and to let speech and language pathologists make a perceptual analysis ofthese individuals? speech at the age of 19 years. An additional aim was toexamine the relationship between these two different ways of evaluation.Data was collected through perceptual analysis from audio recordings and byusing a self-report questionnaire based on the ICF-structure (InternationalClassification of Function, disability and health). Altogether, 33 peopleparticipated. One third of the participants had no speech deficiencies.

This study highlights the differences in articulation, Nasality and intelligibility between twenty 16-year-olds and thirteen 19-year-olds born with isolated cleft palate and control groups. The test groups are compared in a longitudinal perspective and based on earlier evaluations of velopharyngeal impairment. Significant differences were found between test groups and control groups using quantitative comparisons based on SVenskt Artikulations- och Nasalitets-TEst and NasometerTM. The longitudinal comparison also showed a positive but not significant development of the speech. Differences emerged in the comparisons based on velopharyngeal impairment but no significance analysis was made.

Velopharyngeal insufficiency may affect resonance, articulation and thus how speech is perceived by other listeners. Velopharyngeal insufficiency is frequently found in the cleft palate population due to structural abnormalities of the palate. The pharyngeal flap is the most commonly used operation designed to improve velopharyngeal function. The aim of the present study was to compare speech before and after pharyngeal flap surgery by perceptual evaluation regarding Nasality, articulation and deviant speech. The study includes preoperative and postoperative speech samples of 28 patients who underwent pharyngeal flap surgery at the University Hospital in Linköping between 2002 and 2007.

Bakgrund Nasometer är ett datorbaserat instrument som procentuellt mäter andel ljudenergi som vid tal kommer ut via näsan. Nasometern är det främst använda instrumentet vid instrumentell nasalitetsbedömning. I användningen av Nasometer behövs normalvärden från personer med typisk resonansutveckling. Normalvärden för svenska språket finns för flera åldersgrupper, men inte för tonåringar.Syfte Ta fram normalvärden för Nasometer hos svensktalande 13- respektive 18-åringar, studera värdenas spridning samt analysera könsskillnader inom respektive åldersgrupp.Metod  Deltagarna bestod av två grupper; 39 deltagare i åldern 12 - 13 år och 48 deltagare i åldern 18-19 år. Alla deltagarna hade svenska som modersmål samt typisk tal- och språkutveckling.