Abstract
Operation of the velopharyngeal mechanism to provide separation of the oral and nasal cavities presumably is involved in such varied ac— tivities as speech, swallowing, sucking, and blowing. Results of a number of investigations, however, suggest that velopharyngeal functioning may not be the same for all of these activities. For example, various investigators (1—4, 8, 9) have concluded that more extensive movements of the pharyngeal walls and more frequent occurrence of a definite Pas— savant's ridge are involved in swallowing than in speech production. Bloomer (3) concluded that the activity of blowing resembled speech in relation to velopharyngeal function. Warren and Hofmann (12), however , found consistently greater velar elevation on blowing than during phonation. Bloomer also reports that the closure mechanism while suck— ing liquid is like that observed for swallowing, although more recent data have been reported (7) which indicate that velopharyngeal closure may not be required for sucking liquids. The differences which have been observed in velopharyngeal function for different activities appear to have important implications in the assessment and treatment of velopharyngeal incompetence in individuals with cleft palates. The observation reported by a number of investigators (1, 2, '7) that an individual may achieve closure on swallowing even though he exhibits grossly inadequate closure during speech suggests that a decision concerning closure adequacy may depend on the activity used in assessment. A similar conclusion might be drawn con— cerning the use of different activities as therapeutic exercises to develop velopharyngeal closure for speech. The purpose of the present study was to investigate possible differences in how velopharyngeal closure is attained by normal subjects dur—
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