Abstract: PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of blowing training behavior on speech therapy in patients with cleft palate. METHODS: Seventy-four patients with compensatory speech of velopharyngeal incompetence(VPI) who were treated with pharyngoplasty were recruited in this study, with an average age of 10.98 years old. According to the principle of combining blowing exercise behavior therapy with Chinese speech training, the consonant was further induced, and fricative and plosive were produced to send the air way on the basis of blowing blisters and blowing balloons while holding breath. SPSS 21.0 software package was used for data analysis. RESULTS: The blowing time was increased from 6.37, 7.0 and 9.96 seconds before blowing exercise to 24.87, 26.96 and 29.07 seconds after blowing exercise, respectively, in the three age groups 4-6 years old, 7-12 years and ≥13 years old; the difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). Before exercise, each group of patients could not complete balloon blowing, the success rate of balloon blowing in each group reached 88.9%(4-6 years old group), 84.0%(7-12 years old group) and 90.9%(≥13 years old group) later. Prior to the training of each group of patients, fricative f, s, plosive p were shedding or weakening, while all patients obtained normal pronunciation after exercising, the difference was statistically significant(P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Mastering the exercising method of breath when holding up the soft palate is effective in enhancing velopharyngeal closure and inducing pronouncing fricative and plosive.

Key words: Blowing exercise, Hold breath, Palatopharyngeal closure, Speech threapy