Parents Describe How Covid-Masking Caused ‘Heartbreaking’ Learning Loss in Speech-Delayed Children

Ashley Breese started worrying about her son Vinnie’s speech before he turned two. He was clearly learning to understand language, she said, but he had a hard time making words.

But he was a boy, and boys often develop speech later than girls. Breese and her husband just had to keep working with him, the family’s pediatrician insisted.