Status: 22/09/2022 13:37
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According to the health insurance company KKH, more children and young people suffer from speech disorders than ten years ago. In addition to the consequences of the corona pandemic, other reasons can also be considered as explanations.
According to a study, the number of children and young people in Germany suffering from speech disorders has increased. Between 2019 and 2021 alone, the number of people between the ages of 6 and 18 affected grew by around 9% and between the ages of 15 and 18 by nearly 21%.
58 percent more cases than in 2011
This emerges from the data of the commercial health insurance fund (KKH) in Hanover. In a ten-year comparison since 2011, the number of people affected has increased overall by 58%: an increase of 59.4% was recorded for girls and 56.7% for boys.
The KKH had collected anonymous data from its approximately 1.6 million policyholders aged six to 18 with the corresponding diagnosis from 2011 to 2021.
Children aged six to ten are particularly affected today
Speech and speech disorders in children and adolescents include limited vocabulary, difficulty articulating sounds or forming sentences, or poor grammar. According to the KKH, an average of 8.1% of children and adolescents were affected last year, up from 5.2% a decade earlier. The percentage of children with speech impairments was highest in the six to ten year age group with 16.0%.
One reason: the aftermath of the corona pandemic
According to the health insurance company, the coronavirus pandemic with all its restrictions has made it difficult for many children to develop language skills. Home education and a lack of social contacts have caused many people to lose direct contact with teachers and, above all, with their peers. Since nurseries and schools were often closed, some speech disorders were also not detected: closed speech therapy practices would have made the situation even more difficult.
Additionally, there may be other causes, as Vijitha Sanjivkumar of the health insurance company’s medical expertise team explains:
Organic causes such as hearing problems and genetic predisposition or excessive use of smartphones, PCs and televisions can also cause language deficits.
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Complex language acquisition was limited
The health insurance company also expects an increase in speech therapy for young children. Due to the hygienic regulations related to the crown, such as protective masks or contact restrictions, “the complex language acquisition of today’s two- and three-year-olds through the communicative experience with the formation of sound, the reading of the movements of the lips or facial expressions were limited, “Sanjivkumar said.
Even younger people are affected
However, according to the KKH, the data also shows that language and speech cause problems for more children and older youth. The number of people aged 11 to 14 affected has doubled over the past decade and has even increased by 151% between 15 and 18.
Speech development disorders are usually diagnosed by the pediatrician. Sanjivkumar advised parents:
Read to your child, play with him and develop stories or rhymes together, converse and discuss with each other. When communicating, pay attention and look at your child. It is also important to be able to speak.
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