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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Here’s what the AAP says about masks and speech: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/Do-face-masks-interfere-with-language-development.aspx

Our toddler and preschooler have both learned two languages over the past two years, and because we are at high risk, we live like we’re in a monastery except for preschool, which is fully masked.

One of the challenges of this kind of discussion is that it’s really, really hard to control for confounding variables in human subject research and we tend to see our own experiences (and ignore anything that doesn’t conform to it). You have to be exceptionally well trained to avoid these obstacles when evaluating the effects of various policies and interventions.

If masks are contributing to speech delays, good evidence to that effect is not yet available. OTOH, we have very clear evidence that Covid can be quite dangerous. And masks and distancing are among our limited tools for dealing with it. Sometimes you have to make the best of a bad situation. [/quote]

Where is the study showing that masks for 2 year olds that only wear them half the day has any impact on the transmission of Covid? It's been nearly two years. There has been time to study this. It hasn't been a priority, obviously.

As the AAP recognizes, there is no study on the impact of masks on speech development one way or the other. Saying there is "no evidence" is not the same thing as saying there is no impact. And I take great issue with their assertion that because early intervention is focused on parent coaching, virtual is just as good. Yes, the intervention is done by the parent, but the therapist does the assessment. I can tell you in our case if the therapist had been working with our child in person, she would have noticed an issue that we did not see until months later after she graduated from early intervention. If we had been made aware of it earlier it would have been so much easier to address.[/quote]

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