PURPOSE: to determine the phonological skills of Chilean children between 3 years and 4 years 11 months old with unilateral and bilateral cleft lip and palate. METHOD: a sample of thirty-nine cleft lip and palate children treated with surgery was divided into four different groups according to the type of cleft lip and palate (unilateral and bilateral) and age (3-3,11 years and 4-4,11 years). We were carried out the TEPROSIF test (Chile), in order to determine the amount, type and frequency of simplification phonological processes in the studied group. The scores obtained were compared with the Chilean standard utilizing the t test statistical package. Descriptive statistics were obtained. RESULTS: more phonologic processes were significantly observed in the cleft group. In all groups the most frequently subtype of simplification phonological processes was the replacement processes' group, except for in the 3-3,11 years of age in unilateral cleft, where the most frequently were the syllabic structure processes. CONCLUSION: results suggest the need to include techniques for assessing the presence of phonological processes in cleft children in order to consider the training for eliminating these processes in their therapies in the appropriate stages of development, aiming at improving the language conversational aspect.
Language Development; Cleft Lip; Cleft Palate; Articulation Disorders
