The pandemic didn’t make being a kid easy. While online school, no play dates and staying home weren’t ideal, it turns out that these preventative measures to slow the spread of COVID also had a serious impact on children’s speech skills.
Evidence shows that new speech disorder diagnoses more than doubled during the pandemic, with 1.5 million children ages zero to 12 receiving a diagnosis in 2022 compared to an average of 570,000 in 2018/2019.
The following factors may have contributed to speech development delays in children during this time.
Limited Social Interaction
Speech development in early childhood relies heavily on exposure to a rich language environment and social interactions, but restrictions imposed during the pandemic, such as social distancing measures and school closures, significantly limited face-to-face communication for children.
With reduced access to peers, teachers and other adults, children experienced fewer opportunities for conversation, language modeling and engaging in interactive play.
The result? These children may struggle to start or hold a conversation, understand the meaning of words or take turns during games or while talking.
Increased Screen Time
Kids learn best in a multisensory environment, where they can touch, hear, see and taste. With online school, kids can’t use all their senses to learn. For example, being taught via a screen may prevent children from picking up on the nonverbal cues, facial expressions and body language that contribute to language acquisition.
In addition, a lack of childcare and working from home led to the increased use of tablets and TV by kids, which can have a detrimental effect on their speech and language. A systemic review of 48 studies determined that more screen time was associated with lower language skills in children.
Mask Wearing
There isn’t much evidence to support the idea that masks delay speech development in kids. But for children with hearing loss, it’s another story. Masks can dampen sounds, making it hard to distinguish between similar ones, like “t” or “d,” which can impact a child’s speech development.
What Parents Can Do
To nurture your child’s speech skills, try these tips at home:
- Read and talk about books together—Ask easy questions, such as “What color is the cat?” or more difficult ones, like “Where do you think the cat will go next?”
- Talk and play with them regularly—Describe your actions as you do them, such as “I’m making a sandwich,” or try expanding on your child’s statement (if they say, “pretty bird,” you say, “That’s a pretty bird”).
- Cut back on screen time if possible
As a parent, you know your child best. If you believe they have communication issues, get them the help they need by contacting Willamette ENT & Facial Plastic Surgery today to schedule a speech evaluation.
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