A certain degree of speech defectiveness and/or facial deformity is present in many children with a repaired cleft lip and/or palate. the literature suggests that others may have negative stereotypic perceptions of children with clefts, but the relative contribution of speech and appearance in formulating these negative reactions, has not been clearly elucidated. In addition, little is known about how cleft children perceive their own facial appearance and speech, and what effect these self-perceptions may have on self- esteem, social satisfaction, and behavior. This series of studies is designed to address several questions regarding the social acceptability of children with clefts. The first study (01) will examine the developmental changes and relative influence of speech and facial appearance on the perceptions of other children and adults to the child with a cleft. Public school children of preadolescent and adolescent ages, and college undergraduates will rate audiovisual, visual only, and audio only presentations of twelve children with clefts for appearance, speech, and general personality attributes. The second study (02) proposes to compare the self-perceptions of cleft children and control noncleft children of their own speech and appearance and the relation of these perceptions to educational and social satisfaction and self- esteem. The cleft group will also be examined for the relationship between self-ratings and ratings of others (parents and professionals) and to independent ratings of behavior. The third study (03) will compare the facial ratings obtained by direct observation of children during a clinical visit to ratings of photographs of the same children by observers who have never met the child.
