Cleft lip

[boysrock]

Posted this in special needs but I think it may be a crossover topic so i'll try here as well. You never know..

Ds (4) had a cleft lip repair when he was 4. His teacher mentioned yesterday that she was concerned about his speech and had noticed that he doesn't move his top lip when talking. Anyone else had experience of this?
If so do you mind telling me what the outcome was?

I'm hoping its not more surgery for him

Tia.

No experience of cleft lip sorry but I would have thought a speech therapist would be the next stage for you to look at here. Think of it a bit like needing physiotherapy after surgery but in this case with a speech therapist. Try getting him to do things that involve putting his lips together in the mean time - blowing a ping pong ball around through a straw, blowing out candles, licking things off his lips with his tongue. Keep pushing for a referral, seeing speech therapists can be difficult as they are a bit like gold dust in some places.

Hello. My dd is two and had a cleft palate but not lip. It's been repaired.
Can you not contact the cleft team that he is under? We have to see ours until she is 21.
If not you can self refer to speech therapy.

Thanks. Cleft team round here good so all referrals in place he's getting reviewed soon. Thanks beautifulgirls I'll getting him working in those exercises. I was getting concerned it would be more surgery. Hopefully not though.

I had / have a cleft lip. Until I was 8 I had a fold of skin where the lip had been tucked under like a seam and sewn together. This was removed when I was 8 and my appearance and speech improved. I lisped and mouth looked swollen. Not the same as your DC but in my case the initial treatment wasn't enough and might the same with your DC?

Good luck.

Oh that's interesting Dye as that is similar to how he looks now. I was wondering if they would do anything for that at some point. His lip is in a straight line on the top but then he has extra flesh pointing out at the bottom if you follow.

Yes I understand that. I'd post a picture but I'm old now and hardly anyone can tell any more. My scar has faded and looks bumpy rather than scarred.

The only way I can explain it is that it felt like my top lip had been tucked under and there was some flappy skin left on the inside of my mouth. It always looked swollen and bumpy worsened by me always playing with it with my tongue.

I remember being in hospital aged about 8 to have it removed - 6 stitches on the inside of my mouth?

Thanks for that info. Gives me a clearer idea of what may happen down the line.