Speech assessment of adolescents.

The adolescent patient provides a unique opportunity for the clinician to be both retrospective and prospective. While adolescence is a period of selective and rapid oral facial growth and dental arch development, the period of rapid speech development is long past. The adolescent patient is entering a period of quiescence and is refining and adjusting existing speech skills. During the patient's adolescence, we have the opportunity to evaluate the outcome of earlier treatment and assess the results of our management strategies and techniques. We also have the opportunity to prospectively modify and improve our treatment strategies. This is a brief review of the experiences of one cleft palate center. Treatment goals and outcomes will be reviewed and areas that require continued refinement will be described.