The Plan for the Next 18 Years
Take the reading one piece at a time. For each piece: read it once, underline the sentence that says what happens, then look up any word in the list. Tap a word to see its definition.
Piece 1 of 2
Real stages of multidisciplinary cleft care, shuffled on purpose for the team to order. Card A: orthodontics and alveolar bone grafting (filling the bony gum gap), mixed dentition about 7 to 11 years, to align teeth and close the gap in the tooth-bearing ridge. Card B: cleft lip repair (cheiloplasty), about 3 months (within the first year), to restore lip and nasal form. Card C: feeding support and positioning, optional presurgical molding, birth to about 3 months, to keep the baby fed and growing and narrow the cleft before surgery. Card D: definitive orthodontics, jaw surgery, rhinoplasty, scar revision, adolescence into adulthood, to correct midface growth and finalize function and appearance. Card E: cleft palate repair (palatoplasty), about 9 to 12 months (within 18 months), to separate mouth and nose and enable normal speech. Card F: speech-language therapy and velopharyngeal checks, toddler years onward, to prevent and treat hypernasal, unclear speech. Card G: ear tubes and hearing checks (ENT and audiology), infancy through childhood as needed, to treat chronic ear fluid and protect hearing.
Piece 2 of 2
Two timing clues: babies grow fastest and feed most in the first months, so feeding cannot wait, but the lip and palate tissues are tiny and still developing, so surgery is staged into the first year and beyond; and children begin forming real words in the toddler years, so a palate that still leaks air into the nose during that window will shape unclear speech habits that are hard to undo later.
Reading the Research
- Skim the title and abstract first to get the gist.
- Circle the one sentence that states the main claim.
- Box the evidence the authors give for that claim.
- Mark one sentence that confuses you, and move on.
Now put it together: In one or two sentences, say what this whole reading is telling you about Mateo. Then go back to the lesson and fill in the guided notes.