Increased speech problems in children as a result of pandemic stress
The pandemic has left its mark on children's development. According to speech therapists, stress has increased the number of children aged 4 to 4,5 who have problems with stuttering.
As he explains Daniela Petreska, speech therapist-special educator at the ambulance in the Prilep Health Center, these are speech problems, caused by stress due to the pandemic.
He says it is attributed to a stressful situation at home due to the pandemic.
- The pandemic has done its thing in all spheres of life. The children were not left untouched. We have a situation with older children, aged 4 to 4 and a half. They developed stuttering. These are called speech fluency problems. We attribute this to a stressful situation at home due to the pandemic. The number of children with such problems has increased. During the pandemic, there was no work for a while, then we worked selectively, the children who went to school in September had an advantage. And there is still a large number of children waiting for treatment - explains Petreska.
If we add to this the problem that has been simmering in recent years, not only parents but also institutions should be involved in the solution. Experts give it a new name - "Screening". Parents unknowingly buy their peace with mobile phones, tablets, TVs. It is a problem for the development of speech, but also for the sensitive-emotional development of children.
- In recent years and recently, the problem with speech in children has increased significantly. We have a large number of children who have problems with speech and language development. There is underdeveloped speech, problems in socio-emotional relations. Parents report problems at a much earlier age to their children. We already have children at the age of two. The parent notices that the child does not speak, does not respond to the name. The biggest reasons, unofficially, but noticed by us, are in the problem with the "screening" of children, adds the speech therapist.
The term "Screening" means adversely affecting the development of the brain from mobile phones, tablets, televisions and other devices. Parents, as Petreska points out, in order to buy their peace, unknowingly offer the phone to their child from an early age.
- There are cases when the parent emphasizes that from the age of seven or eight months, during activities such as feeding, the children are offered a mobile phone or in front of the TV. It is a period of sensorimotor development in the child. This means that the child needs to turn on all the senses in order to develop all the functions in the brain. If we take into account that the brain requires survival information and if the phone is in front of your child, then the information comes from only one direction. Only the senses of sight and hearing are involved. There is no play, no movement, no other activities that the child has to perform through motor skills and sensors. And that is the basis for the development of speech and socio-emotional relations, explains speech therapist Petreska.
Speech therapist-special educator Petreska advises parents to pay more attention to their children, but also to learn them in their mother tongue. Parents also need education, and institutions need to pay more attention to the problem that has accumulated.
Initially, the recommendation to the parent is to turn to their children, from an early age. The parents themselves need an education, because the speech problems in the child will not be solved on their own. We give advice. The basic recommendation is: pure speech, we do not need a foreign language from an early age. Many children learn English first through mobile phones or cartoons. At some point it is a pleasure for the parent, and we ask them: then why do you bring him to help him develop his mother tongue, explains Petreska.
She points out that they currently have a project for a room for the development of early stimulation, so that they can, not only with advice, but also with sensorimotor treatments to help children with speech problems.
Elizabeta Mitreska