While many children born with a cleft lip or palate may struggle to speak clearly, speech therapy can help them learn how to correctly articulate certain sounds—a vital step toward helping these kids communicate well and live normal lives.
But a few years ago, Rishma Shah, B.D.S., M.Sc., Ph.D., at the time a craniofacial orthodontist at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Adams School of Dentistry, noticed that many of the cleft patients weren't making quick progress toward clearer speech. That's because these kids weren't practicing their home speech exercises, said Lynn Fox, M.A., M.Ed., CCC-SLP, a speech language pathologist at the UNC Craniofacial Center—in large part because it's not exactly thrilling to repeat a rote list of words over and over, day after day.
"Kids don't want to practice," Fox said. "It's not fun to practice."
That's why Shah is now developing a new intraoral device paired with a gaming app to make home practice for speech therapy for these kids more engaging and responsive. With the help of a FastTraCS grant followed by funding from the NC Biotechnology Center, she and her colleagues have created a Bluetooth-enabled wireless charging retainer with a sensor that tracks tongue placement along the palate and encourages the correct articulation of speech sounds. Eventually, the retainer will be paired with a smartphone game, which patients will be able to play by practicing their speech therapy exercises—giving these kids motivation and feedback as they learn how to articulate clearly…
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