In a previous Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT) including children with unilateral cleft lip and palate, it was found that children who had the entire palate closed by 12 months of age had almost as good phonological abilities as a control group, whereas a group of children with a residual cleft in the hard palate performed significantly worse at 3 years of age (Willadsen, in press).

To investigate the influence of phonological ability on intelligibility of speech in 14 children from each of the 3 groups, an investigation including 84 lay listeners was conducted.

The lay listeners were presented with video clips of children performing the naming test used in the study mentioned. The video clips were presented on a computer screen, and the listener was instructed to write down what the child had said. Each listener was presented with a total of 60 words produced by 2 children from each of the 3 groups.

Based on a pilot study a difference between the groups was observed, suggesting that control children were most easily understood, followed by children with closed palates who were more easily understood than children with a residual cleft.