Do Masks Hurt Speech Development? It Depends on the Child.
School has started in the United States amid the spread of the coronavirus delta variant, which has been rampant in some parts of the country and less so in others. With it comes a renewed focus on mitigation measures such as vaccination for staff and for kids who are eligible, social distancing, and masks.
Ongoing study — which has yet to be peer reviewed — suggests that masks work well to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission in adults, for whom the virus can lead to serious disease. But for young children, the tradeoffs are less clear, leading to debate among both experts and the public.