Cleft Lip / Palate Support Group

Cleft is a congenital deformity caused by a failure in facial development during gestation. It can be treated with surgery shortly after birth with highly successful results. Cleft occurs in somewhere between one in 600 and one in 800 births. Cleft occurs in several severities and is divided in two major categories: cleft lip and cleft palate.

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Children's Physical Health
/ Cleft Lip / Palate Support Group

Its hard

Grenade
Grenade

Its hard being a kid with cleft lip and palate but we all can do it. I was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate. And it sucks

MellowManta
MellowManta
I was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate as well. What kind of obstacles are you facing? Have you gone under any surgeries?
Grenade
Grenade
I have gone under more than 15 surgeries. And im having trouble with my speach and just being social
MellowManta
MellowManta
Have you considered going to a speech therapist? I had to go to one when I was younger, and it kind of helped. But after my more recent surgery, my upper jaw being moved forward, there were some exercises that I had to do to acclimate myself with my new arrangement.

Even if you can’t afford a speech therapist I recommend practicing at home. You can practice pronouncing words and string along some sentences. Or you could try singing some of your favorite songs to yourself, if that sounds more fun.

Also, are you by any chance in college? Or still in school?
Grenade
Grenade
I'm still in school I'm in high school and I refused to have speech therapy and I'm gonna have my upper jaw moved forward after high school
MellowManta
MellowManta
I wasn’t a huge fan of speech therapy myself, but is there a reason why you avoided it? I can understand if you might feel embarrassed, but you shouldn’t let that hold you back. It could really help you improve your speaking skills.

Ii recommend that you look into clubs that you can join at your high school or community. When I was in my second year of college I felt that I wasn’t having much of an experience. So even though I don’t have a strong connection to gaming, I joined my college’s game club and from there I made a small handful of friends.
Woodoow
Woodoow
Hi Grenade,

I also struggle with my speech. I find speech therapy humiliating and a real chore, but there's sadly no getting around it according to your degree of VPI.

FWIW,I practiced speech therapy at 6-8, then 10-11, then 18-19 again ; and have been letting it slip since then and there's no words to express how dumb of me it was to do just that. My quality of life def went downard again as a result.

I'd suggest booking an appointment with a therapist you feel cares about you so that you know how it's actually like. In fact, some of my therapists have been the best source of support during rough times in my life, especially the last one.