Reply to Are the reported rise in speech-delays due to masked daycare caregivers making you rethink daycare?

Forum Index » Preschool and Daycare Discussion

Reply to "Are the reported rise in speech-delays due to masked daycare caregivers making you rethink daycare? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There are a lot of anecdotes on this but no legit studies or data.  I ask my pediatrician about it at every check up and he confirms there is no data yet.  Everyone on this thread claiming there is seems to be basing that on such evidence as "of course" and "it has to".

To add another anecdote, my son turned 2 in March 2020 and returned to daycare later that summer.  All his teachers have been masked ever since.  His speech was on track at 2 but it took off between 2-3 and he is incredibly articulate now at nearly 4.  No impact from masks whatsoever.

My daughter was born during the pandemic and has been going to daycare since she was 5 months, she's now nearly 17 months.  She's right on track for her age in terms of speech and emotional milestones.

If my kids never talked to anyone without a mask on maybe I'd be worried, but daycare is just a part of their day.  The other kids aren't masked at daycare and during nights and weekends they interact with unmasked adults.  I make a point to talk to the baby, especially, as much as a possibly can to ensure she sees me forming words.  I just narrate everything when I'm with her.  She has had no lack of opportunity to learn from watching people speak.[/quote]

You’re right.  Yours is just another anecdote.  And you can’t say how much more advanced you kids would have Brennan had their daycare teachers not been masked.  In my mind, the solution is to stop masking teachers I the infant and toddler rooms.  Test the teachers daily and stop covering their faces.  [/quote]

Yes, mine is just another anecdote, that's my point.  Proposing a "solution" begs the question - we don't actually know if there's a problem.  People are just assuming that.

You know what we do have lots of real data and study on?  Language development by blind children.  That research has not shown any strong link between blindness  and impoverished language acquisition.  Moreover, they often "find independent adaptive strategies by the children, pointing to a plasticity in the acquisition process itself."   If blind babies can develop language skills normally I'm sure babies cared for by people in masks 6-8 hours a day can manage. [/quote]

Interesting but not comparable.  Blind babies see nothing ever, don’t realize others do see, and have to adapt by touching faces and mouths (which they can’t do now either)   Our babies see our mouths move when we speak but hear only voices in daycare.  Stands to reason there would be delays. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics