Speech therapist blames face masks for massive spike in children with speech delays

A speech therapist in Florida is sounding the alarm on the CDC’s insistence on mask wearing after noticing a massive uptick in the number of children suffering from speech delays and other mask-induced issues.

Jaclyn Theek, a clinic director and speech-language pathologist at the Speech and Learning Institute in North Palm Beach told ABC news affiliate WPBF that she saw a whopping 364 percent increase in the number of referrals for children suffering from speech delays in 2021, suggesting mask-wearing may be causing unprecedented damage to healthy childhood development.

“This has been a very challenging year,” said Theek at the end of 2021, informing the public that prior to the pandemic, only five percent of her patients were babies and toddlers, a number that has since skyrocketed to 20 percent.

Saying that many parents are referring to the problem as their children being “COVID-delayed,” Theek stated that while “There’s no research out there yet saying that this [mask wearing] could be causing speech and language delays,” she is “most definitely” convinced that it is a “factor.”

“We are seeing a lot of things that look like autism. They’re not making any word attempts. And not communicating at all with their family,” explained Theek.

“It’s very important that kids do see your face to learn, so they’re watching your mouth,” added the pathologist.