Masks, School, and Speech Delays Update

Photo and Masks by Author

I wondered before school started how masks would delay my son’s speech, which I wrote about previously. After the third week of preschool, clear masks arrived in the mail and I sent his teacher one. Also, I sent my son with a clear mask to school. The masks tend to fog inside the plastic portion and they are harder to breathe through. Hence the fog negates part of the purpose. While subbing as an aide, I only saw one teacher put on a clear mask while she taught students about dental hygiene. After the mini-lesson, she switched to a normal mask.

From working in schools, more teachers are wearing a face shield instead of the clear masks when they need to communicate with speech-delayed children. The face shields are even more than what is required in this situation according to Governor Herbert’s mandate. Face shields are a compromise between no mask and masks. So far, I have seen teachers wearing a face shield during special education services. As I subbed for my third son's special ed class, the students and teachers and aides could use face shields for that room.

My youngest son’s speech has improved some since beginning preschool. He is saying three of four more words. He has doubled his word count! His /t/ no longer sounds like a /d/. Also, I recognize more intonations to phrases. I am so pleased with these small yet large improvements. Currently, the speech therapist wants us to work on turn-taking activities to mimic conversation.

Working as a substitute teacher or teacher aide, I have observed how different schools have implemented the mask mandate. In most schools, the students and teachers wear their masks normally. The children still have their masks fall below their noses often and need reminders. Some masks are just too big to stay on their noses long. In this case, some parents have twisted the elastic twice over to make it tighter. I tie a knot in earloops on my oldest son’s masks. The clear masks for my toddler came with little sliding adjustments, which work well as long as they don’t slide completely off. My youngest son has already lost one slider.

One school I subbed at required masks on for more activities than outlined in the Utah school mask mandate. This school made no exception for PE, special education, and for speech-delayed children. During PE, the children dropped their masks more frequently while jumping and they had difficulty breathing. I had greater trouble understanding the children with speech difficulties in the special education classroom. And they had trouble understanding me. We said “what?” a lot. Sometimes we gave up on communication entirely. For children with special needs, this increased their frustration and meltdowns.

Thus, the exceptions are there for a reason.

Students and staff can remove their masks during recess and while eating. Having a small break during the day has helped my anxious teenager through the process. I am glad that we don’t have to wear masks while eating. I don’t know if it would be possible to eat with a mask on, but it might be interesting and messy to try.

While wearing a mask, my throat hurts at the end of the day. Kudos to teachers and other staff who do this every day! I used a cough drop to soothe my throat tonight. While I had a sinus infection and sore throat the last weekend of September, I drank warm water with honey and lemon juice. It soothed my throat, so I may need to try that for “mask throat.”

For all the challenges, Utah teachers and students have done well. They have demonstrated great resiliency during this pandemic. Right now, everyone is working as best they can to keep schools open. Life will return to normal.

My Son's Speech Therapy and School Mask Conundrum

Photo by Author

Originally written on August 20, 2020

As an infant and toddler, my youngest son had frequent ear infections. The infections were indicative of fluid retention in his middle ear. The fluid prevented his ear drums from vibrating properly, thus causing conductive hearing loss. The doctor placed ear tubes in his ear two years ago so his middle ear can drain since his Eustachian tubes weren’t draining properly.

My son’s expressive language is stuck in the babbling and one-word stage, which is the spoken language level of a one-year-old. He says a few words like tickle, no, ma, and da. Mostly, he babbles. Occasionally, his intonation sounds like a word or phrase. Overall, we have to repeat sounds many times before he imitates them. He responds better when he imitates his brothers or the sound is linked with an action.

His receptive language is much higher. He can point to objects or follow one-step commands. For example, when I say “Where’s the ball?” with a book, he will point to it. And he will throw trash away if I ask him too as a one-step command.

Because my son is stuck in the one-word/babbling stage, seeing is important to his language development.

What role does sight play in learning language?

From the moment children are born, they are imitating our facial expressions. Psychologists believe this imitation derives from our “mirror neurons.” One such imitation and expression is when an infant smiles around eight weeks old. They also imitate the manner of articulation from what they see and hear parents say. The imitations carry through an infant’s cooing and babbling stages. Babies will take turns in conversation of smiles, coos, gestures, babbling, and other actions. For example, if you stick your tongue out, a baby will copy that, but usually at a slower pace.

The School Mask Mandate

Ever since Utah Governor Gary Herbert ordered that all students wear masks (or face shields), I have wondered how this would affect my toddler with a significant speech delay who will be attending special ed preschool. He would probably be covered under the disability category, but I didn’t know. I figured I could do a face shield for my son and the teacher would be wearing only a face shield. I discussed this with the preschool speech therapist when she visited for extended school year visits. She hoped that it would only be face shields.

On August 14, Gov. Herbert ordered that teachers must wear a mask with the face shield. All students must wear a mask, unless they have a doctor sign a medical exemption form. Section (3)(e) of the mandate states a communication exemption:

an individual engaged in an activity where the ability to see the mouth is
essential for communication, including an individual who is deaf or hard of
hearing while communicating with others, an individual who is
communicating with an individual who is deaf or hard of hearing, or a
teachers-student dyad participating in speech therapy, in which case the
individual shall wear a face shield without a mask or use alternative
protection, including a plexiglass or similar barrier;

I tried to get some clarification from my son’s previous preschool teacher during our extended school year conversations about this. She stated that students and teachers must wear masks from the last update. She didn’t seem to know anything about the exceptions for speech therapy. It seems there is a lack of communication about the exceptions.

Overall, I am very confused; some teachers are confused too. Because the rules change frequently, parents and teachers are both scrambling to figure this out. Preschool starts next week, so the kinks are yet to be determined.

Last week, I made five masks for each of my four sons to last a school week. I included my toddler because I don’t know exactly what is going on.

Amid the confusion, my older children have adjusted to school with masks. Maybe my youngest will adjust well too.

On Monday, I read an article about masks with a clear portion over the mouth. BYU deaf students were considering this alternative for themselves and their interpreters. Some read lips and also want to see the facial cues in ASL.

I am considering these clear masks for my son. I asked his new preschool teacher if she would wear one. She said she’d try it out. I will be purchasing one for her most likely. This will all cost more money, but I don’t know what to do. My son needs to see the teacher’s mouth in order to imitate speech sounds better. I believe he could copy some sounds, but not as accurately.

What can I learn from blind babies’ language development?

While writing this post, I realized that sight is not absolutely critical to learning language. For example, blind babies learn how to talk. I wondered how they learn to communicate. I found some answers on Family Connect. A blind baby learns more through touch and sound. An adult can put their babies hands on their lips or hands.

So masks will not stop my son from learning to talk, but it may make the process longer.

However, children are very resilient. Their plastic neurons forge new connections to adapt to the different learning circumstances.

This school year may be different, but children will still learn.

Writing Process for Poem My Moonbeam Spills on Your Face

As a teenager, I often gazed at the moon and stars through my bedroom window. God’s creations bore witness of his love for me. I contemplated how I could personify this message in poetry.

I wrote my first draft entitled “I spill a moonbeam” during my high school freshman or sophomore year. The words came as a song. Whenever I shared this poem, I sang it. I sang this poem to a friend during a sleepover. She complimented my singing voice, which I had never considered as beautiful, just off-key.

My first draft reads thus:

I spill a moonbeam
Across your face
While you do dream
Of a heavn’ly place.

I stream in sunshine
Through your window,
And yet you whine
Of my sun’s glow.

I whisper to you,
“I love you so!
I really do.”
Yet you don’t know.

I weep from above.
I groan within:
“Remember my love!
Let yourself grin.”

Again my moonbeam
Shines on your face
While you do dream
Of a heavn’ly place.

I showed this poem to another friend. She noted that the “do” felt repetitive. She wondered why people added “did” and “do” to poetry. I figured the “do” belonged in the first stanza because it kept the rhythm. I didn’t remove it.

A few years ago, I compiled a nature booklet that I hoped to sell on Amazon. I asked a retired English teacher from my hometown to look it over. She suggested removing the “do.” Here are her suggestions:

Screenshot by Author

I finally gave up the “do” for the next beta reader. Here are her suggestions:

Screenshot by Author

This revision still lacked the poignancy I wanted, so my mind percolated on how to improve the poem for the last few years. Last month, I finally wrote a revision late at night.

Here was my revision process:

Photo by Author

Photo by Author

Without further ado, here is the final revision of my poem:

My moonbeam shines on your face
While dreams vanish without trace

My sunbeam streams through your window
You toss, turn, and hide under a pillow

My breeze stirs your hair
While you kneel in prayer

My raindrops fall on your head
My tears, your fears soon shed

My moonbeam shines on your face
Day to day, you grow grace to grace

Common Sense and Other Hackneyed Phrases

Via Public Domain Photos

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen comments through her characters on how hackneyed the phrase "violently in love" is for her era. We have other phrases that have become almost meaningless from overuse around 200 years later.

"Common sense" has been co-opted since Thomas Paine used it in the campaign during the American Revolution. Merriam-Webster defines it thus: "sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts." Dictionary.com includes more of innate virtue to common sense: "sound practical judgment that is independent of specialized knowledge, training, or the like; normal native intelligence."

"Common" is the word that is taken advantage of most. What is really considered common? Common is "normal" or "sound" or "practical." Truly it is in the mental dictionary of the speaker and listener. But "common" is different for each person's experience. Common sense is also mistaken for what the majority of the population wants. This phrase's hollowness struck me as I read Australians' comments and opinions about "common sense" in American newspapers and blogs this week. Americans "corrected" the Australians' misconceptions. Common sense in Australia is not necessarily common sense in the United States. 

Politicians try to pass laws using "common sense" legislation. We have to consider what is really "common" in the rhetoric. But this is also the argument of everybody is doing it, so you should too. Sometimes, we need to stand apart from the crowd when it is a matter of principle, even if it is a lonely position.

My software engineer husband often talks about how hollow the word "professionalism" is in the business world. At his first job, multiple bosses defined "professionalism" according to whatever whim they wanted at the moment. I think of professionalism as no swearing, no sexually suggestive jokes, and business casual dress.

Merriam Webster defines professionalism: "the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person." So that just leads down the rabbit hole of what is a profession and a professional and conduct. I googled the word professionalism for the definition; multiple articles appeared with many ideas on the whole package of how to dress, ethics, being on time,  continuing education, and so forth. Essentially, the meaning and execution of professionalism change from job to job and boss to boss.

Humans are a funny species. As far as we know, we are the only species that construct abstract ideas. With this abstraction, some words and ideas become very subjective. We can't concretely picture them or hold them. We just ruminate over the impossible.

How do you define common sense or professionalism?

What words/phrases do you consider hackneyed?

Texting, Chatting and Language

Via Public Domain Photos

I recently read Lynne Truss's Eat, Shoots and Leaves. I laughed reading the book. Like her, I need a permanent marker, paint, correction fluid, and so on to correct all the punctuation mistakes I see. Some "mistakes" are just a matter of style that Truss discusses in her book, especially commas.

I am a mix of a grammar Nazi, word nerd, and descriptive linguist. I watch where language goes and cringe at some usage (not grammar) mistakes. We need to have some structure going forward so we can communicate effectively across the generations.

I first heard about this book during my Modern American Usage class in 2006--the same year the iPhone came out. This book materialized in 2003, during an interesting technological period--texting had just become popular on cell phones, but smart phones hadn't come out yet.

Truss discussed how people thought the demise of language was at hand because of texting and chat room shorthand and emoticons. Not that people will ever stop mourning the demise of language since change is inevitable in a mortal world.

Do you think Neanderthals accused the first Neanderthal who scrawled on cave walls of destroying language?

Smartphones changed the text and chat-room shorthand trend only a few years after the book was written. Soon people switched their flip phones and full keyboard phones for smartphones. I held out for years and only switched to a smartphone 18 months ago.

Smartphones complete our words and sentences for us. Thus, we use shorthand less often, except Twitter and #hashtags. Our emoticons are actual pictures. Now auto correct causes us problems if we accidentally press the send button too soon.

Ah...language and technology.

Limericks from High School

“I have the biggest crush.”

A girl told her friend in a rush.

                “Who is the crush on?”

                “The coolest guy—Don.”

Don passed by causing the reddest blush

A woman who was very cruel

Could beat anyone in a duel.

                If you looked in her eye

                You would instantly die.

Deep, dark hatred was her fuel.

There was a young teacher at school

Who wasn’t strict about every rule.

                She’d tell a funny joke

                To every passing bloke.

If it were a boy, he’d spin on his stool.

A poor little man getting thinner

Couldn’t find a delicious dinner.

                A lion on the prowl;

                Its face set in a scowl.

Who do you suppose will be the winner?

The Initialism of RSV

Via Public Domain Pictures

The initial symptoms of RSV are the tickle in your throat, the congestion in your head, and the cough from your mouth. Then the entire family gets sick. The infant has trouble breathing and goes into the hospital for a day. Yay!

Anyway, RSV is an initialism, versus an acronym, that stands for respiratory syncytial virus. An acronym is said like a word instead of the individual letters. For example, BYU is an initialism for Brigham Young University, and SLCC (slick) is an acronym for Salt Lake Community College.

RSV seems like the common cold, but it is a different virus. It is nastier than cold viruses because it creates thicker mucus. Thus, babies have a harder time breathing. It generally last 10 days and peaks at 5 days. Don't trust my medical knowledge.

My husband caught the "cold," then my two older boys, then the two youngest boys and me. Just the common cold, I thought.

My husband was zonked for two weeks and is only just recovering.

The toddler had a fever all Thursday and Friday. He is usually bouncing off the walls, but he was lethargic for 24 hours. Friday morning, my husband took in the toddler, and I decided to join him with the infant. On a whim, I decided to get the smiley infant checked out too.

The medical technician took a few vitals, but instantly asked to see our infant's chest. She said he was retracting.

The nurse and the doctor rushed to see the infant. They took a look and sent us to the ER. They weren't as worried about the toddler. Just said to visit the urgent care with him later.

The ER doctor admitted my infant into the hospital because his oxygen saturation levels dipped. The mucus test results came back with RSV.

We never had anyone check our toddler.

On Saturday, I took my toddler into the urgent care. His oxygen saturation level was low, so they sent us to the ER. Again.

I bawled the entire drive over and for awhile at the ER. Would I have two kids in the hospital?

The ER doctor wasn't concerned about my toddler. Just gave us a prescription. So simple.

Luckily, my infant was able to come home on Saturday evening.