1. Department of Speech, Language and Hearing sciences Speech and language profile of internationally adopted children born with cleft lip and palate Laura Bruneel 1, MSc; Kim Bettens 1, Ph.D.; Ruth Bastenie 1, MSc; Kristiane Van Lierde 1,2 1 Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium 6 Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University Of Pretoria, Pretoria, South-Africa Laubrune.bruneel@ugent.be International adoption (IA) has a large impact on both the adoption family and the adopted child. The adopted child experiences an abrupt change of environment, including the language to which he/she is exposed. This change is described in literature as ‘the second first language’ [1]. Consequently, there is a risk of speech and language disorders [1]. Currently, there is an increase of parents willing to adopt foreign-born children with special needs, including children with cleft palate [2]. Several variables associated with this anomaly can possibly influence these patients’ speech and language development additionally [3,4]. However, outcomes studies describing speech and language in IA children with cleft palate are extremely rare. Background Methods Discussion & Conclusion References [1] Roberts, J.A., et al., Language development in preschool-age children adopted from China. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2005. 48(1): p. 93-107. [2] Van Dyke, D.C. and J.W. Canady, Management of the adopted child in the craniofacial clinic. Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, 1995. 6(2): p. 143-146. [3] Follmar, K.E., et al., Velopharyngeal Insufficiency Rates After Delayed Cleft Palate Repair: Lessons Learned From Internationally Adopted Patients. Annals of plastic surgery, 2015. 75(3): p. 302-305. [4] Hansson, E., H. Svensson, and M. Becker, Adopted children with cleft lip or palate, or both, require special needs cleft surgery. Journal of plastic surgery and hand surgery, 2012. 46(2): p. 75-79. [5] John, A., Sell, D., Sweeney, T., Harding-Bell, A., & Williams, A. (2006). The cleft audit protocol for speech-augmented: a validated and reliable measure for auditing cleft speech. The Cleft palate-craniofacial journal, 43(3), 272-288. Resonance and articulation of internationally adopted children with C(L)P is comparable to non-adopted patients with C(L)P. However, additional attention for language development in this population is needed, as four of the adopted participants had clinical scores on at least one index. In view of some shortcomings of this study, further research should use larger sample sizes and influencing variables such as intelligence should be controlled for. Moreover, inclusion of adopted participants without C(L)P would provide new insights. Speech and language of 5 internationally adopted (IA) children with cleft (lip and) palate (C(L)P) were compared with: 5 non-adopted children with C(L)P 5 non-adopted children without C(L)P (normative group) Both groups were matched for age and gender Perceptual evaluation of resonance [5] Nasometer II 6450 Perceptual evaluation of articulation CELF Preschool-2 IA children with C(L)P normative group IA children with C(L)P non-adopted children with C(L)P No significant differences for speech or language Results Resonance More hypernasality (p=0.017) Higher nasalance value for the oral text (p=0.077) Articulation More substitutions and omissions (p<0.05) More distortions (p=0.061) More substitution processes (p=0.071) Language Poorer scores on -Expressive language index (p<0.05) -Receptive language index (p=0.074) -Language content index (p=0.070)