title: The nature of articulation errors in Egyptian Arabic-speaking children with velopharyngeal insufficiency due to cleft palate.
abstract: Even with early surgical repair, the majority of cleft palate children demonstrate articulation errors and have typical cleft palate speech.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Was to determine the nature of articulation errors of Arabic consonants in Egyptian Arabic-speaking children with velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty Egyptian Arabic-speaking children with VPI due to cleft palate (whether primary repaired or secondary repaired) were studied. Auditory perceptual assessment (APA) of children speech was conducted. Nasopharyngoscopy was done to assess the velopharyngeal port (VPP) movements while the child was repeating speech tasks. Mansoura Arabic Articulation test (MAAT) was performed to analyze the consonants articulation of these children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The most frequent type of articulatory errors observed was substitution, more specifically, backing. Pharyngealization of anterior fricatives was the most frequent substitution, especially for the /s/ sound. The most frequent substituting sounds for other sounds were /ʔ/ followed by /k/ and /n/ sounds. Significant correlations were found between the degrees of the open nasality and VPP closure and the articulation errors. On the other hand, the sounds (/ʔ/,/ħ/,/ʕ/,/n/,/w/,/j/) were normally articulated in all studied group. The determination of articulation errors in VPI children could guide the therapists for designing appropriate speech therapy programs for these cases.
authors.affiliation: Phoniatric Units, ORL Departments, Mansoura University Hospitals, Mansoura, Egypt. Electronic address: taboelsaad@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Tamer
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Abou-Elsaad
authors.affiliation: Phoniatric Units, ORL Departments, Mansoura University Hospitals, Mansoura, Egypt.
authors.forename: Hemmat
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Baz
authors.affiliation: Phoniatric Units, ORL Departments, Mansoura University Hospitals, Mansoura, Egypt.
authors.forename: Omayma
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Afsah
authors.affiliation: Mansoura General Hospital, Mansoura, Egypt.
authors.forename: Alzahraa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mansy
mesh_terms: D001184:Articulation Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D004534:Egypt; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D013060:Speech; D013062:Speech Articulation Tests; D014681:Velopharyngeal Insufficiency / Q000209:etiology*; D014833:Voice Quality
keywords: Arabic articulation test; Arabic consonants; Child disability; Child speech disorders; Cleft palate speech; Velo-pharyngeal insufficiency