That was after years of struggling with his speech.
During his examination however, it was established that Jeremiah does not need surgery but rather speech therapy, because he already had his palate repaired about four years ago.
“Only having a palate repaired that late in life, means the child has learned to speak and make sounds with a cleft palate – thus hypernasal speech, glottal stops and backing was observed with him,” said speech therapist at Rob Ferreira Hospital and volunteer for Operation Smile, Annelie Bornman.
“After the repair, he went for speech therapy twice and as his parents were unknowingly overcharged. They then forfeited therapy, as they weren’t able to afford it anymore,” Bornman said.
“That is so sad, because he would have benefited from intense speech therapy afterwards. Most children with cleft palates present with compensatory articulation (learned articulation errors that require speech therapy to teach correct placement) and some of them, with Velopharyngeal insufficiency.”
Velopharyngeal insufficiency may result from structural abnormalities and / or development of atypical articulation (compensatory articulation or velopharyngeal mislearning).
Jeremiah and his parents, Rishika Singh and Stephen Padayachy, thus returned home to Actonville four days later.
“After Operation Smile agreed to find a suitable speech therapist for Jeremiah,we came home on September 30,” said Rishika Singh.
According to Bornman, Jeremiah was given a few therapy exercises to practise and was given a referral letter.
“They also received a referral to attend speech therapy at a government hospital close to them on a weekly to monthly basis,” Bornman said.
“I also referred them to an ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT) to assess velopharyngeal insufficiency, that could be structural.”
Singh said the overall experience with Operation Smile was orderly and they were treated well.
“I always said Jeremiah is blessed, despite his speech problem,” his mother added.
“Operation Smile really goes out of their way to help children like him.”
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