Speech Buddies Partners with The Cleft Lip & Palate Foundation of Smiles

We are thrilled to announce a new partnership that Speech Buddies has formed with The Cleft Lip & Palate Foundation of Smiles. Cleft lip or palate is one of the most common birth defects in the United States, affecting around 1 in 600 children nationwide. Children who are born with cleft lip or palate are likely to have speech difficulties, as too much air fills the open nasal cavity, making their speech sound “slushy.”

Cleft Palate Speech Therapy

Rachel Mancuso, the Executive Director or The Cleft Lip & Palate Foundation of Smiles reached out to us a few months ago. She had heard of Speech Buddies Tools and wanted to know if our products might help alleviate speech difficulties for children who are affected by cleft lip or palate. We agreed to donate several Sets of Speech Buddies to The Cleft Lip & Palate Foundation of Smiles to investigate! They will be distributing Speech Buddies Tools to their respected network of craniofacial specialists to do a deeper investigation of how and when our Tools are appropriate for children working on speech challenges. We’ll certainly update the community with their feedback and results. In the past few years, we have heard from many speech language pathologists who have had success using Speech Buddies with children after their reconstruction surgery is complete. One even sent us this video of her student Lilly after her cleft was repaired:

From all of us here at Speech Buddies, a special thank you to Rachel and The Cleft Lip & Palate Foundation of Smiles. You have built a vibrant, caring community and we certainly hope our partnership will bring solutions and the gift of communication to many more children and families.