Special thanks to Judith Kuster for pointing us to this free handout from Ann Kummer, PhD, CCC-SLP and Super Duper.
Children with a history of cleft palate are at risk for resonance and speech problems due to velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD). Characteristics of VPD can also occur in children with no history of cleft palate for a variety of reasons.
Indications for Speech Therapy

• Therapy CANNOT change abnormal structure (velopharyngeal insufficiency)
• Therapy CAN change abnormal function (velopharyngeal incompetence sometimes, and velopharyngeal mislearning all the time) Therapy is appropriate if the patient demonstrates the following:
• Compensatory articulation productions
• Mild or inconsistent nasal rustle, since it tends to be due to a small gap
• Phoneme-specific nasal air emission or phoneme-specific hypernasality due to
  misarticulations
• Hypernasality or variable resonance due to oral-motor dysfunction (dysarthria or apraxia)
• Improvement with change of articulation or with stimulation

Read the entire article ‘Speech Therapy for Characteristics of Velopharyngeal Dysfunction (VPD)’ HERE
Please support our contributors and visit Judith Kuster’s website ‘Net Connections for Communication Disorders’