A recent national survey found an increase in kids ages zero to five years old with hearing loss and speech delays.

“Members of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association who are certified audiologists and speech-language pathologists were polled post-pandemic,” said Dr. Robert Augustine. “We learned that one third of our audiology members discovered young children were experiencing undiagnosed hearing loss during this time. Similarly, 80% of our certified speech-language pathologists were discovering delays in language and difficulties in language as a result of the pandemic.”

Dr. Augustine is the president of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, or ASHA, and says kids likely didn’t get the help they needed during the pandemic and when they did, there was a backlog.

“We know that many of the things that would have promoted speech-language and hearing during this period of time weren’t available to children, they weren’t going to school, they weren’t interacting with their family members or their friends, they may have not been able to get to their pediatrician, or doctors to be evaluated,” Augustine explained. “So, all of this is likely to have contributed to the fact that we’re seeing an increase in these areas.”

The results of the survey from roughly 1,000 members with ASHA found the following:

Among audiologists, 34% report seeing more children with a delayed diagnosis of hearing loss, and 36% report more children with untreated (persistent) ear infections that could interfere with communication development, compared with before the pandemic.
Among speech-language pathologists, 84% report more children with emotional or behavioral difficulties, 79% report more children with delayed language or diagnosed language disorders, and 78% report more children with social communication difficulties than before the pandemic.
When it comes to factors contributing to increases in referrals beyond backlogs, audiologists and speech-language pathologists point to limited opportunities for social interaction and play with peers (59%); limited formal pre-K and daycare or interaction with outside adults (57%) such as child care providers, preschool teachers, and extended family; and young children (51%) spending more time using screens and technology such as tablets and smartphones compared with pre-pandemic years.

Late last year I was seeing local people on Twitter and Facebook bitching about taking their kids in for speech therapy sessions and they were required to wear a mask since it was a "medical facility". Haven't seen anything about that in a while now. WA state kept the mask requirement up until just a couple months ago other than rural Dr's dropped it last year. Most of the Puget Sound region (Seattle) have kept it in place and are still requiring them.

Speech delays? Absolutely. It stunted their growth through all the bullshit they were required to do and the school closures.

The "scamdemic?"

No.

The govt. and sheeple's reaction to covid-19?

Yes.

I don't see how it couldn't, not to mention social skills, reading ability, and grit to push through challenges. My wife teaches in college and the students she has now were graduating during the peak of "lock down." They think everything should be open book, want class cancelled if there are thunderstorms, etc, etc.

Yup.  My kids needed tubes in their ears.  Gretchen said that it wasn’t an essential surgery.
By the time that they got them, several months had passed.  

It has caused a delay.

REP. NADLER: "When we have a pandemic like COVID-19 pandemic that we had, 2-year-olds should've been required to wear masks. It would be child abuse for parents not to do that because there was no vaccination available for 2-year-olds." pic.twitter.com/pFyMBkKgcF

Breaking911  (@Breaking911) June 14, 2023

My daughter just graduated with her masters degree as a SLP.

She was in the program when you had to mask up and try to diagnose children with speech issues. She said it was the most asinine thing that they had to put up with.

The pandemic did usher in the medical video conferencing visits which are helpful though.  

That dude can't croak doon enough

Wait until the long term health issues associated with increased CO2 intake start cropping up.

Middle sister just finished her speech pathologist schooling.

She said the amount of kids and adults hurt/slowed down by masking is huge.

Sad thing is she is a believer of the shots.

I have one-sided hearing impairment. According to the Richmond hearing doctors, my left ear is totally normal, like average hearing, while my right side is basically profound sensorineural hearing loss. They suggested cross-hearing aids and I did get it. But somehow for me, it only works nicely if I was having conversation in a quiet place such as if the person decides to be on my bad ear, the clarity becomes much better and I don't have to turn my head everytime to get clearer sounds. When in noisy environment, it somehow making me tired more since my ear (and my brain) have to work harder to block out the noise and it'll be harder if I'm wearing hearing aid due to it's nature of amplifying sounds which means they amplify the background noise as well. Since there's only one ear working to block out the noise and more sounds are coming in from the cross-hearing aid, it just making me having headaches

My kid has speech delay. He hit that crucial learning period right when COVID hit hard,and as much as my wife and I tried,he wasn't around any other kids or basically anyone else other than us at all for months. He's catching up now,but delayed.