Since the day she was born, Nathalie was not like other children. She had a cleft lip and cleft palate. Her condition enormously affected her parents. It raised several concerns: Will she be able to breastfeed? To what extent will the surgery modify her appearance? Will she have normal intellectual development? Is she always going to have the nasal voice that is so difficult to understand even for her grand-parent? Will her communication problems affect her social integration and her self-esteem?

Fortunately, a professional team accompanied her parents throughout Nathalie's development. In her first years, Nathalie's parents consulted a Speech-Language Pathologist who helped them understand why Nathalie had trouble pronouncing words. The Speech-Language Pathologist met with Nathalie's parents regularly to make sure that her language development was normal. Soon, she began a speech therapy program to maximally reduce her nasal speech.

Today, Nathalie is an adolescent. The surgeries she has udergone, as well as the interventions of the Speech-Language Pathologist, have allowed to be understood by her friends. She is blossoming into a young woman, and her parents are very proud of her.

According to the literature, cleft lip and palate-cranio-facial disorders affect 1 out of even 1000 children. The incidence is influenced by the child's sex and family history. This anatomical anomaly, in isolation, primarily affects speech only (voice, nasal resonance, articulation, and swallowing). However, children with a cleft lip and palate which is part of an other at the same time, more complex, cranio-facial disorder (such as Crouzon syndrome, Apert syndrome, Treatcher Collins syndrome, Pierre-Maire Robin syndrome, etc.), can also develop problems in language development.

The Speech-Language Pathologist works with other members of a multidisciplinary team to make sure that the treatment plan developed corresponds to the child's needs, with the most up-to-date knowledge and expertise.

The Speech-Language Pathologist meets with parents to explain the impact that this disorder can have on their child's communication development. She also educates parents on how to stimulate the child's language. Through regular contact with the child, the Speech-Language Pathologist monitors his/her speech and language development, and offers the necessary treatment in order to improve the overall speech intelligibility. This serves to minimize the impact of this communication disorder on the child's everyday life. The Speech-Language Pathologist also serves as a resource person for explaining the communication problems to caregivers and teachers supporting the child in the daycare school setting.