Working with toddlers with cleft palate : Learning from clients and families

Toddlers with cleft lip and palate (CP+L) often receive speech-language pathology intervention as part of a larger intervention program. These programs are often aligned with a medical model since specialist interdisciplinary cleft team care is provided through hospital settings. However, there are many benefits of family-centred practice for speech-language pathology intervention for these children and their families. This clinical insights paper is intended for SLPs new to working with young children with cleft palate and aims to translate findings into practice from the international multiphase Toddlers with Cleft Palate Study that involved (a) interviews with international specialists, (b) speech and language data from toddlers with cleft palate, and (c) an ethnographic study to outline principles of family- and child-centred practice for toddlers with cleft palate and their families, so that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) may learn from and better understand the needs of these clients. Clinical insights from this study support SLPs using family-centred practice, incorporating an ethnographic approach to assessment and relationship building, and considering the contexts in which young children with CP±L participate in, to best learn from the clients and their families.