Latest Blogs

Below is a list of blogs written by ACPA members and the National Office Team.

If you are interested in writing a blog, please email Alyssa Kirkman for more information.

*Disclaimer-The American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association claims no responsibility for the content published by others on its web site. Published content does not imply endorsement of the organization or the content of the meetings.

75th Anniversary: A Welcoming, Multidisciplinary Association

By Alyssa Kirkman posted 23 hours ago
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As we celebrate ACPA’s 75 th Anniversary in 2018 , we will be sharing stories from ACPA members about their ACPA experiences.  We are proud of the work our members have accomplished in support of our mission: to optimize outcomes for individuals with oral cleft and craniofacial conditions through education, support, research, advocacy, and interdisciplinary team care. Please join us in celebrating our anniversary by learning more about our members and the patients and families they serve. Today’s story is from Steven Goudy, MD. "My first memories were as a fellow at the University of Iowa. I was brought as a tag along with Dr John Canady, Mike Karnell, ...
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Family Fun and Personal Connections in Colorado

By Erin Mallis posted 2 days ago
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In May, two fun events in Colorado connected patients and families. On May 5 Face-to-Face Colorado had a Family Fun Day at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Over 100 participants enjoyed two panels of experts, one for school age kids and one for parents. The panels allowed all attendees no matter their age to ask questions of the experts.  For the adult panel there were two speech therapists, advisory board members for Face-to-Face Colorado, who were able to answer many of the questions about speech and language development. After the panels, everyone explored the museum with new friends and then finished with lunch and more socializing. There ...
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Apply for an Awareness Month Proclamation

By Alyssa Kirkman posted 7 days ago
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ACPA is once again participating in National Cleft & Craniofacial Awareness Month in July to increase cleft and craniofacial awareness, both locally and nationally.  For the past several years, ACPA has received a proclamation from the town of Chapel Hill.  ACPA has also received proclamations from North Carolina,  Milwaukee, and for ACPA's 75th Anniversary, Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania. We encourage you - or your organization or team -  to request official acknowledgement of awareness month from your local government and to contact local media to share the news.  Here’s a sample proclamation from the mayor declaring July as Cleft & Craniofacial ...
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Submit your Art, Photos and Stories to ACPA

By Alyssa Kirkman posted 10 days ago
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We are always trying to share new stories, photos and artwork to inspire the community and to spread cleft and craniofacial awareness.  There are a couple of ways you (or your family or your team) can contribute. ACPA had an art contest to celebrate its 75th Anniversary. Several images have been shared on the cover of The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal , and we will be sharing other winning artwork on the ACPA blog. We would like to continue to share artwork from our families, care providers and members in order to spread awareness of each of your individual and unique cleft and craniofacial journeys. ACPA Family Services is getting a new look - ...
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Photos from ACPA's 75th Annual Meeting

By Jessica Kokos posted 12 days ago
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Thank you to everyone who attended ACPA's 75th Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh. We are excited to share photos from the event on the ACPA Facebook page . Sessions and Posters Gala Arrivals Awards Program Gala Please remember that all pictures taken at ACPA’s 75th Annual Meeting are for personal use only.  They cannot be used in press releases, advertising, or promotion without the approval of ACPA. Please email alyssa.kirkman@acpa-cpf.org for more information.  Thanks for helping us celebrate the 75th Anniversary.  We hope to see you all in Tucson in 2019 . #AnnualMeeting #A
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Join the Conversation - Network with the ACPA Online Community

By Hillary Roberts posted 15 days ago
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The ACPA Online Community is the place for members to ask questions, connect, network, share resources and more. Features include discussion forums, member profiles, resource libraries, blogs and events. Here are some tools to help you get started: Update your profile Add a photo Introduce yourself Join the Discussion You can keep up-to-date on the conversations with the “Daily Digest” emails. These emails are sent once a day and provide a summary of all the discussions happening in the community. Be sure to add “@ConnectedCommunity.org” to your “white list” to ensure the daily digest emails do not go in your spam folder. Send us ...
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ACPA Member Julia Corcoran on Finding a Cohesive, Skilled Repair Team

By ACPA posted 16 days ago
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Learning your child needs surgery to correct a cleft lip and palate is an overwhelming diagnosis. Not only are you caring for a newborn, but you’re tasked with finding a team to operate on and treat your child over the course of several years. A cleft lip and palate occurs in nearly one out of every 600 births in the United States. A second trimester ultrasound may detect a cleft lip, but a cleft palate typically isn’t revealed until birth. While surgery can repair the defects, the process is a long, arduous one.  Before digging into the repair process, it’s important to understand the function a palate provides. According to ACPA Member Dr. Julia Corcoran, ...
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Upcoming Webinars: Developing a Multidisciplinary Feeding Team, Media Training, Team Approval

By Stephanie Williamson posted 20 days ago
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We hope you are as excited as we are for ACPA Online Learning . ACPA webinars will provide continuing education credit with tailored content for our multidisciplinary field.  All interested professionals are encouraged to participate, no matter what level of involvement they currently have in a cleft or craniofacial specialty. Visit ACPA Online Learning for details on webinar registration and pricing.  Most webinars are 60 minutes long and available for live or on-demand streaming. ACPA provides continuing medical, speech and nursing education through ACCME, ASHA and ANCC for designated webinars.  Upcoming webinars include:  Media Training for ACPA ...
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ACPA Publication: “Information about Choosing a Cleft Palate or Craniofacial Team”

By Hillary Roberts posted 22 days ago
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Selecting a treatment team is a big decision for families as teams can be involved with a child into the teen years and beyond. ACPA offers a fact sheet with tips for when your family is selecting a clinical team.  “Information about Choosing a Cleft Palate or Craniofacial Team” will help you find the team that best fits the needs of your child with a cleft or craniofacial condition. Throughout the United States there are many qualified health professionals caring for children with cleft lip and palate as well as other craniofacial anomalies. However, because these children frequently require a variety of services that need to be provided in a coordinated ...
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Member News: Ghali, Idelberg, Markiewicz

By Alyssa Kirkman posted 23 days ago
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ACPA Members G.E. Ghali, Michael Markiewicz, have all been featured in recent articles. G.E. Ghali, DDS, MD was featured in an article in the Shreveport Times titled Palestinian child recovering after rare surgery in Shreveport : "Mustufa had a rare oblique facial cleft, which extends from the lip to the inner corner of the eye, and hypertelorism, which is evident by a larger than normal distance between the eyes. His condition was the result of the areas failing to fuse properly during embryologic development, said Dr. G.E. Ghali, chancellor and dean of LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport."  Read the article. Jamie Idelberg, BS, RDH was ...
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ACPA Artwork: Sophie Dances

By ACPA posted 27 days ago
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ACPA had an art contest to celebrate its 75th Anniversary.  Several images have been shared on the cover of The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal , and we will be sharing other winning artwork on the ACPA blog.   This submission comes from Jeff, Sophie's dad.  In his words: "In 2009, my wife and I adopted a baby girl from China.  Sophie had a bilateral cleft lip and palate. Before we even traveled to get her, we had been accepted into the cleft repair program at Shriners Hospital in Chicago.  We'd been back only a couple of months when Sophie had her first surgery.  We live in Colorado Springs, so traveling out to Chicago every 6-9 months for checkups ...
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From Patient to Provider: Paul's Journey

By Stephanie Williamson posted 28 days ago
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"To all who currently have a craniofacial anomaly or are a loved one of such an individual, I would like to share my story. I was born with a unilateral right complete cleft lip and palate. Through the excellent care I received from the team at Saint Louis Children's Hospital's Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Institute, I feel that most of the general population would not even realize that I was born with a cleft lip and palate. This team has changed my life for the better and I will be forever grateful. I am proud to have volunteered for the team at St. Louis Children's and hope to someday become a dental care professional who cares for kids born with a craniofacial ...
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75 Years of Team Care - an ACPA Timeline

By Alyssa Kirkman posted 30 days ago
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ACPA was excited to unveil the Wall of Traditions at ACPA's 75th Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh. The American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association (ACPA) is proud to celebrate 75 years of commitment to team care. True to its origins, ACPA’s mission  is to optimize outcomes for individuals with oral cleft and craniofacial conditions through education, support, research, advocacy and interdisciplinary team care. Founded in 1943 following an interdisciplinary course on the construction of speech appliances for children at Pennsylvania State College, the Association has gone through several name changes over the years – starting out as the American Academy of Cleft ...
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ACPA wins ASAE Gold Circle Merit Award

By Alyssa Kirkman posted 04-20-2018
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The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) has named the 2018 Gold Circle Award winners , which denotes excellence, innovation and achievement in association/nonprofit marketing, membership and communications programs. The 2018 competition received 183 submissions. More than 90 judges from different associations, nonprofits, and for-profit organizations evaluated the submissions this year. The awards are sponsored by High Roads Solution.    ACPA won a merit award for the media/public relations campaign titled "A Sense of Wonder: Community Gathering for Movie Screening".  According to ACPA's submission: The release of the major motion picture ...
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14th and 15th International Congress - Edinburgh 2021 and Kyoto 2025

By ACPA posted 04-18-2018
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The opportunity to host CLEFT2021 was awarded to the Cleft Society of Great Britain and Ireland and CLEFT2025 was awarded to the Japanese Cleft Palate Association. Information on the meetings is listed below. 14th International Congress on Cleft Palate and Related Craniofacial Anomalies Website: http://www.cleft2021.com/ Dates: July 5-9, 2021 Place: Edinburgh International Conference Centre Congress theme: Weaving research, collaboration and compassion into tomorrow's cleft care 15th International Congress on Cleft Palate and Related Craniofacial Anomalies Website: http://square.umin.ac.jp/JCLP/en/index-en.htm Dates: October 19th to 24th, 2025 ...
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Past President Highlight: Ron Hathaway

By Alyssa Kirkman posted 04-16-2018
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As we continue to celebrate our 75th Anniversary, we will be highlighting some of the leaders who have helped make ACPA so successful. This month we are highlighting Ronald Reed Hathaway, DDS, MS, MS. Name: Ron Hathaway City, State: West Chester, Ohio Current title/occupation: Orthodontist Year(s) of service on ACPA board: 11 Board position(s) while on board: Councilor, Treasurer, Vice President-Elect, Vice President, President-Elect, President, Past President Titles/occupations while on board: Medical Director, Craniofacial Center at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana; Professor and Director Orthodontics Division ...
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Continuing Education for ACPA's Annual Meeting

By Jessica Kokos posted 04-13-2018
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Evaluations are necessary to receive continuing education from ACPA.  Click here to submit your evaluation(s).  Use your ACPA account to log in and select the type of CE credit(s). Each registered and paid course will be listed under the “Pending Credit” section.  Click “Submit Credit” next to the course to complete the required evaluation.  General Sessions, Concurrent Sessions, Eye Openers and Study Sessions are included in the Annual Meeting.  Complete an evaluation for each item for which you are requesting credit. Evaluations must be submitted by May 7, 2018 to receive credit. Credit will not be awarded after that date. After the evaluation ...
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75th Anniversary: ACPA’s Meeting Leads to Better Understanding for the Future

By Alyssa Kirkman posted 04-11-2018
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As we celebrate ACPA’s 75 th Anniversary in 2018 , we will be sharing stories from ACPA members about their ACPA experiences.  We are proud of the work our members have accomplished in support of our mission. Please join us in celebrating our anniversary by learning more about our members and the patients and families they serve. Today’s story is from Marziye Eshghi, winner of the 2018 The Karlind T. Moller Cleft/Craniofacial Scholarship for Speech Pathology/Audiology Students. "'ACPA’s Annual Meeting' has several connotations for me. Besides being able to present my research studies, it brings us a moment when we all celebrate being part of a community ...
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This Week is proclaimed “AMERICAN CLEFT PALATE-CRANIOFACIAL ASSOCIATION WEEK”

By Alyssa Kirkman posted 04-09-2018
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ACPA is pleased to announce that this week is officially “American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association Week” in the state of Pennsylvania.  ACPA Received the proclamation from Governor Tom Wolf in honor of ACPA’s 75 th Annual Meeting being held in Pittsburgh during ACPA’s Anniversary year. ACPA also received a proclamation from the Mayor of Pittsburgh, William Peduto, in honor of the meeting.   Thank you to Governor Wolf, Mayor Peduto, and their offices for helping us celebrate 75 years of team care
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ACPA Member News: Costello, Ricalde, Salyer

By Alyssa Kirkman posted 04-06-2018
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ACPA Members Bernard J. Costello, Pat Ricalde, and Kenneth E. Salyer have all been featured in recent stories and events. The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine recently announced Dr. Costello as the new Dean of the Dental School . A quote from the release: “As health care educators and researchers, we are tasked with providing new ideas and solutions to complex problems,” said Costello in a prepared statement. “I have seen the School of Dental Medicine grow and evolve over the years, and I am excited for the opportunity to lead our students and faculty into a future that is focused on advancing oral health care through interdisciplinary teamwork ...
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