<p>Ok so this isn't exactly related to anything college, but I could use some parental advice LOL. Anyways, here goes. Im a entering freshman at a large school in California. I was born with a cleft lip and palate. So far college has been great and I feel like a completely normal kid, except one thing. Even though my speech is clear and I have no easily defined (i.e. sounds) speech defects, I still speak with a nasally accent and it sounds like Im from New Jersey but worse. While not everyone seems to be bothered by it, many people are and it is definitely hurting my self confidence and my dating/friendship life. My parents don't want me to see a speech therapist even for a consultation because they feel it isn't worth the money (the consultation shouldn't be a financial burden; actual therapy depending on the costs may be) and that my voice isn't bad but unique and makes me who I am. I don't hate my voice, but it definitely bothers me at times. </p>
<p>How do I convince them to change their minds and/or do you have any alternatives to speech therapy?</p>
<p>I suggest you see if your college has a speech therpay school on campus. Perhaps you can get speech therapy for free from students under supervision of a faculty member. If this works out, you can tell your parents that you are in a win-win situaiton because you are getting help for yourself and helping students learn speech therpay. If you don’t have a speech therapy clinic or school at your college, go to your student health and seek advice. They may know of a free place where you can get speech therapy.</p>
<p>Cross post with above^^^ . Agree with mdcissp.
If you want to seek speech therapy then get a part time job and repay your parents for the costs (cheaper through their insurance) if they will not pay for it.
Your parents don’t think you need therapy because your voice sound normal to them, however, its imperfection rings loudly in your psyche.
Good Luck.</p>
<p>I know this is late, and perhaps you have resolved this issue, but I would also research the very best cleft palate team in your area (usually associated with a major children’s hospital) and then schmooze with the coordinator until she tells you who her personal favorite ENT for cleft palates is. Depending on when your last repair was, it is very possible that your oral cavity (mouth and throat) have grown or changed. It is possible to make surgical adjustments to this cavity (e.g. put a "pillow in the back of your throat) to reduce the air escaping into your nose. As a speech therapist who used to be on such a team 25 years ago, I know they have improved techniques dramatically, but even back then we did adjustments on teens/adults. I seem to remember that many patients had their last adjustment in their teens back then. Speech therapy might be helpful, but it also might be more effective to “plug the hole” before you start. By the way, my armchair feeling is that you are much more likely to get insurance coverage for therapy if it follows surgery, and I think the recovery is (or used to be) quite easy. when you call, give some thought to whether you have other symptoms, such as occasional difficulty with fluids like soda going “up your nose.” the technical term for what you are describing is velopharyngeal insufficiency if should decide to google it. Hope this helps! If you have other questions, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>And with all due respect to the members above, be very careful with a speech therapy clinic at a school. I would make sure that the therapist is either heavily supervised by someone who has been active with VPI. I know when I was in grad school this was by far our weakest area of training. Do NOT allow them to start your training without a medical consult unless they plan to refer you right away.</p>
<p>I’ve actually had experience with this…my kid, who had cleft palate repair as an infant but became nasal as a teenager (the adenoidal tissue that blocks the passage when you are young eventually disappears) had surgery again after high school - Z-plasty, which can lengthen the palate - and it worked - it is major surgery, but was covered by insurance. Speech therapy itself was not helpful when the problem is the shortness of the palate. The “pillow” alternative (pharyngial flap) is not a good one - it can cause drainage problems. Go to a top cranio-facial surgical team for an opinion.</p>
<p>You have received some excellent advice. The first thing to explore is whether its a physical issue which needs potential surgical intervention. Only AFTER that can it be determined how much (if any) speech therapy is needed. If surgery IS needed, it might be worthwhile to postpone it until the beginning of summer instead of disrupting your current term.</p>
<p>If speech therapy is indicated, we have had experience with S receiving it from three separate sources. As a preschooler, there was one-on-one speech therapy paid for by the local Elks club. They came to preschool & provided therapy for another child and added our S because he was at the same preschool & they could fit him in to their schedule. They were very nice and did what they could to help him pronounce and articulate sounds more clearly. He was discharged some months after his weekly hour-long sessions as “graduated.”</p>
<p>In 2nd grade, one of the teachers recommended he be evaluated & receive speech therapy from the school, which had a speech therapist who regularly service the school in pull out sessions. He did this perhaps a few times/month for a few months to perhaps a year. We didn’t notice ANY improvement and once again, he was discharged as “graduated.”</p>
<p>When he switched to another grade school in 5th grade, again he was referred for speech therapy, another pull out program a few sessions/month. He HATED being singled out and pulled out of class and was allowed to discontinue, as it didn’t seem to make any difference.</p>
<p>About this time, I went to our local flagship U & signed him up for an evaluation and possible free therapy there. We had to pull him out of school for short evaluation. In 6th grade he was DELIGHTED to be able to start speech therapy after school at the free university clinic, working with students there. </p>
<p>It was magical watching how quickly he progressed. They and he enjoyed it so much he was allowed to increase and have two sessions/week. They helped him be able to identify and self-correct his speech for the first time. It was tremendously rewarding to him and the students who worked with him–he made rapid and steady progress and got more out of his visits there than all the different programs he had tried before put together! The students had some supervision but I can no longer recall the details. He graduated from his therapy there and now articulates very clearly and no one can believe he ever needed speech therapy. His self-confidence got a tremendous boost from folks not asking him to repeat himself or not understanding what he said.</p>
<p>Oh yea, private speech therapy can vary in cost and be upwards of $50+/hour or more. We didn’t explore that option much but would have considered it next if we hadn’t had such success with the university clinic.</p>
<p>as you are entering college in California, see if you can arrange an appointment at UCSF. They have a first-rate cleft palate team, which includes a surgeon, orthodontist, and speech therapist. Just going to a speech therapist unconnected with such a team is unlikely to be as helpful. If you are in southern California, take a look at UCLA, and see if they have a similar team.</p>