Life Stages – Cleft Issues

Cleft lip and palate is one of the most common facial birth defects around the world occurring in one in every 650 live births. It can be isolated or as part of a syndrome or sequence such as Goldenhar or Pierre Robin. Having a child with a clef lip and palate can present many issues primarily in the early stages such as feeding, breathing, medical procedures, and social inhibitions. The treatment of cleft repairs has come a long way since the advent of craniofacial surgery since World War II. Today, medical interventions for cleft are so refined that in some cases, it is difficult to notice the repaired cleft. Yet, there are still many psychosocial issues that need to be addressed.
 
In this section, we provide articles that relate to cleft care and treatment from a personal and professional experience. Additional information on cleft and cleft repair can be found on the internet (visit our Online Resources section) or through your Cleft Team.

Articles of Interest

• Alveolar Bone Grafting Part II: A kids View of Surgery, by Kyle McKenzie
• Alveolar Bone Grafting: Part I, by David M. Fisher, MD
• Being Different: Fuelling my passion, my understanding, my dreams, by Amy Urbonavicius
• Cleft Palate, the Middle Ear and Hearing Loss, by Jacob Friedberg, MD FRCS (C)
• Driving with a Cleft Palate: How One Man Lost His License, by Ava-Lee Kotler, Speech Language Pathologist
• Management of the Nose in cleft lip and palate (Rhinoplasti), by David M. Fisher, MD FRCSC
• Memories – A Cleft Lip & Palate Childhood, by Carolee
• Speech and Language Skills in Children with Cleft Palate, by Jennifer Allegro, M. Sc., SLP ©, Reg. CASLPO and Paula Klaiman, MCISc Reg. CASLPO