Researchers are collecting data on children’s:
- early vocalisations and interactions with their caregivers
- speech and language development at different time points
- hearing and surgical history.
The team is using the LENA (Language Environment Analysis) system to capture recordings of children's speech and interaction patterns made over the course of a single typical day when the child is aged 13 months. The team is also collecting data direct from clinical services including speech and language assessment findings at two different time points.
In combination with the dataset from the Cleft Collective Birth Cohort study, the Speech and Language Study will become a large and comprehensive resource for future researchers to apply to access and use to answer questions that will lead to improved clinical care and outcomes for children born with clefts.