Electropalatography home training using a portable training unit for Japanese children with cleft palate

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of electropalatography (EPG) home training using a portable training unit (PTU) for clients with residual articulation disorders. The participants were five Japanese children with cleft lip and palate ranging in age from 8 to 13 years when they began EPG home training. These children had residual articulation disorders caused by abnormal tongue-palate contact, although four of them had received conventional speech therapy for 3 to 8 years before starting EPG training. The WinEPG system (Articulate Instruments, Edinburgh) was used to make recordings during the initial assessment and the monthly follow-up. The participants received EPG training sessions when they attended for their monthly recordings. A training programme was developed for each participant, and they were instructed to carry out their homework assignments using the PTU. After 7 to 9 months of home training, marked changes in the EPG patterns and “centre of gravity” values were observed in four of the five participants. The remaining one participant, who had not experienced speech therapy before, needed a longer period of EPG training to achieve good results. Our preliminary data suggested that EPG home training was effective in school-aged participants who had residual articulation disorders.

Keywords:

• Cleft palate
• electropalatography
• portable training unit
• home training
• treatment efficacy