Virtual Therapy, Real Problems (or, The COVID-Nazis' Abuse of Children)

[Kamaji]

Virtual Therapy, Real Problems

The pandemic has led to skyrocketing milestone delays in early childhood development. The CDC has responded by lowering expectations.

By Rachel Roth Aldhizer
March 11, 2022

Recently, online sleuthing by concerned parents uncovered a discrepancy in the CDC’s language milestone trackers for children under age three, contradicting the milestone guidance set by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Although such a change seems harmless, very real lives are disrupted by changes like these.

The pandemic has led to skyrocketing milestone delays across the spectrum of childhood development, an increase in early intervention therapy referrals, and highlighted the gap between children needing therapy and children receiving therapy. All American children under three with milestone delays are entitled to publicly funded early intervention services, provided through the IDEA Act. Virtual therapies, the efficacy of which is yet to be seen, have become an increasingly popular stop-gap tool to meet rising demands on an overburdened and inefficient system.

Childhood speech delays have increased rapidly during pandemic restrictions. One Palm Beach based clinic reported in November a remarkable increase in speech-delay referrals to their clinic, as much as 364 percent. Other clinics report similar concerns with rising referral rates. One study finds “significantly reduced verbal, motor, and overall cognitive performance” in children born during the pandemic, “compared to children born pre-pandemic.” The kids most at risk, according to the study, are males and economically vulnerable children.

The American Academy of Pediatrics expects children to use at least 50 words at two years old, combining words to make two-word sentences. Saying fewer than 50 words at two is considered a concerning marker for a milestone delay.

The CDC now counters the benchmark set by the American Academy of Pediatrics, setting their new speech milestone marker at 50 words with two-word sentences for two and a half-year-old children, adding an extra 6 months to achieve this milestone. The guidance by the CDC is not supported by the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA), which gives a minimum of 50 words as a two year milestone for children’s speech outcomes.

Why the recent discrepancy in milestones from the CDC? Milestone delays have risen during Covid, not only regarding speech, but across the spectrum of childhood development. But increasing rates of developmental delays do not warrant moving the goalpost for how delays are defined.

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Source:  https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/virtual-therapy-real-problems/

[Kamaji]

This article is startling.  It's also a bit misleading inasmuch as it pins responsibility for these pervasive developmental delays in young children on "the pandemic" rather than squarely placing blame where it lies:  the hysterical, irrational, unhelpful responses to COVID-19 that predominantly liberal/left-wing governments forced on all of us, and that they continue to force on young children in school.

This is worthy of a Dr. Mengele.

[Smokin Joe]

Kid watch how adults make sounds. It's akin to lip reading. Can't do that with a mask on the adults' faces. It makes reading expressions hard for a kid, too. The entire experiment continues, and the number of injured lab rats continues to increase, more victims of junk science.

[DB]

The insanity doesn't seem to be abating.

We're going to have to live with the consequences for the rest of our lives.