'My son did not know how to express himself and he just spoke in single words, without using much vocabulary,' said accountant Ms Erica Chow, whose eldest child was diagnosed with speech delay and other developmental problems.
The number of Hong Kong children with speech-related problems rose significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic as mask-wearing became mandatory and schools were closed for extended periods.
Department of Health figures showed the number of children under 12 newly diagnosed with speech problems, language delay or disorders rose from 4,300 in 2019, before the pandemic, to 4,570 in 2020 and 5,401 in 2021. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mopo earlier raised hopes of the mask mandate being scrapped after he said it could be lifted “at the end of the season” — a reference to the end of March.
She noticed the boy lagged behind in language learning, and was not good at interpreting facial expressions. “Parents staying at home also could not see how their children fared when compared to others,” she said. Students suffered from having to wear masks and being deprived of interaction with their teachers and classmates, he said.His school has engaged a speech therapist, and also extended the two break periods from 15 minutes to 25 minutes to give children more time to mix and speak with one another.
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