American Academy of Pediatrics says there are no studies supporting the concern that masking impedes children's language development

The American Academy of Pediatrics made it clear last month that everyone age 2 and up should wear a mask, vaccinated or not. Apparently, those crazy anti-science people have been making a fuss, so the Academy posted a Twitter thread Thursday called “Real Talk.”

School is starting and masks can be especially important for children younger than age 12, who are not yet eligible for the COVID vaccines. 🧵 Here's some real talk about masks as kids are #BackTogether this fall.🧵

— American Academy of Pediatrics (@AmerAcadPeds) August 12, 2021

It seems some parents are concerned that both caregivers and toddlers wearing masks could hinder speech development, but the Academy says there are no studies to support that concern.

Babies and young children study faces, so you may worry that having masked caregivers would harm children’s language development. There are no studies to support this concern. Young children will use other clues like gestures and tone of voice. https://t.co/Rj1pnT6Bfk pic.twitter.com/rrO9yTujNi

— American Academy of Pediatrics (@AmerAcadPeds) August 12, 2021

Are there studies that prove that young children will use other clues like gestures and tone of voice? People aren’t buying it.

This article says they are unaware of any studies on it, not that it provides studies against the thesis. Also, it specifically lists tips to boost children's language learning since they won't be able to study faces as much, conceding the point!

What happened to the AAP? https://t.co/7eO2ybeX5Y

— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) August 12, 2021

If you don’t study something, you can say there are no studies pic.twitter.com/eoGY2p6mCM

— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) August 12, 2021

"There are no studies to support this concern."

Are there any studies to allay the concern?

Simple absence of a study is not proof of anything.

— J.G. Petruna (@jgpetruna) August 12, 2021

I’m sure there have been many RCTs in which one cohort of infants was randomly selected to be reared amongst all-masked people while the control group was reared normally, the results observed over 5-10 years. You pediatricians sound like totally real scientists

— soncharm (@soncharm) August 12, 2021

This is shockingly irresponsible, from a corrupt, politicized medical organization I didn't think could shock anymore. https://t.co/vn7aDLgrSb

— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) August 12, 2021

This "Frontiers in Psychology" article has 65 (!!) references to peer-reviewed literature regarding the development of childhood emotional inferences and social development:https://t.co/2Rq3jh5SfT

But no, @AmerAcadPeds, there are no studies to support this concern. https://t.co/4TVSB2ilQa

— Matt Malkus (@malkusm) August 12, 2021

I know a neonatal nurse in Memphis that said the masks are absolutely having an effect on the infants. They are becoming non responsive when it comes to emotional facial responses. Flat affect.

— sarahlikes (@sarah83352142) August 12, 2021

Are you saying there are no studies either way? That seems like a thin basis from which to conclude this is fine.

— David Ridley (@RidleyDM) August 12, 2021

Are there any studies to support that children will "use other clues" as you described?

You say you need studies on the one hand, then just make an assumption on the other hand. You can't have it both ways. Either show your study, if that's what matters, or face common sense.

— Marc Pear (@marc_pear) August 12, 2021

This is what happens when politics and naked virtue signaling trump common sense and a sober appraisal of medical evidence.

Next comes the incredulous "why has trust in professional societies declined?" https://t.co/uzTV6J7Vc9

— Vinay Prasad, MD MPH 🎙️📷 (@VPrasadMDMPH) August 12, 2021

There are NO studies to disprove this concern either, are there? Such a cruel study wouldn't pass ethical review stage.

— Dave Pellowe 🇦🇺 (@DavePellowe) August 12, 2021

Errrrrr

Saying there are no studies supporting the concern is not the same as saying there are studies showing the concern to be wrong. How many long term studies on children's development where everyone is masked have there even been?

— Paul Bottomley (@Paul83Bottomley) August 12, 2021

Think I’ll trust my instincts on what I believe my child needs to develop in a healthy, traditional way, over the tweet of a social media employee at a society of doctors, financially-incentivised to follow the CDC’s make-it-up-as-you-go-along guidance & mandates. #Newnormal

— Ross Dyer (@RossDyerTV) August 12, 2021

REAL TALK

A lack of studies does not provide evidence that there is no effect. The reasonable null hypothesis is that there IS an effect given that children obviously leverage visual information of all kinds.

You are ANTI SCIENCE

— Joe Norman (@normonics) August 12, 2021

This is a totally reasonable assumption to make if you've never interacted with, cared for, or observed a human child before. Oh and when babies smile back at you or laugh when you play Peekaboo, that's just a coincidence. https://t.co/Nyo9eXXa0S

— Tiana Lowe (@TianaTheFirst) August 12, 2021

AAP in 2018:
"How Do Infants Learn? Infants love to look at you and hear your voice. In fact, faces, with all their expressions, usually are more interesting than toys. Spend time talking, singing, and laughing. Play games of touching, stroking, and peek-a-boo."

AAP in 2021… https://t.co/QVaWUhK3kh

— James Todaro, MD (@JamesTodaroMD) August 12, 2021

You are absolutely wrong! As an SLP with young grandchildren, I have seen the effects of teachers wearing masks. Limited language use, reliance on gestures that are not easily read therefore behavior/emotion breakdowns. Just stop already.

— Cindy Beasley (@cobeas10) August 12, 2021

Delete your account.

— LB (@LOKenyon) August 12, 2021

"There are no studies supporting this."

"Your anecdotes, no matter how many, and how consistent, mean nothing real about the world."

You're being trained to believe that you don't and can't know anything unless there's "a study". It's psychological warfare to undermine you. https://t.co/R1X3QwOoji

— Disaffected Podcast (@DisaffectedPod) August 12, 2021

You guys are a joke https://t.co/vqMmKmVmWm

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 12, 2021

I spoke with the two heads of a large state's AAP chapter in May 2020 and their message was unambiguous: COVID is low risk to kids, MIS-C is rare, schools should be open. Then the teachers' unions dug in, and neurotic blue team fear of the virus was unleashed. And now… https://t.co/bqyNTM85lZ

— Spotted Toad (@toad_spotted) August 12, 2021

I teach English to students who are not native English speakers. Wearing a mask absolutely affected their language development last year. I had to ask students to repeatedly speak up and repeat themselves which negatively affects their self-esteem as well.

— MDaly (@Meteachesl2) August 12, 2021

Absence of evidence doesn't mean evidence of abscence. You should banned from the scientific field.

— Arbiter87 (@Arbiter852) August 12, 2021

These people are one garbage tweet away from questioning all the vaccines I give my child. I trusted in medicine all my life. I'm in school to be a nurse. My husband is a medical student. I hope to change the tide, but my faith is thin. https://t.co/rE30JQbkxL

— Unmask Our Kids (@Sock_Collector) August 12, 2021

"Looking at faces in surgical-type masks, however, the children were only able to correctly identify sadness about 28% of the time, anger 27% of the time, and fear 18% of the time." https://t.co/QBHNDyXrTc https://t.co/jHXcg33PZg

— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) August 12, 2021

My degree was in Child Development & Child Psychology. I can promise you while it may not "harm children's language development", it will harm other aspects. Start with looking up the Still Face Experiment. 🙄 https://t.co/HhV0xEcueq

— Rena (@Mambacita_13) August 12, 2021

A single sentence to describe the changes in childhood development as it relates to mask wearing. Accompanied by a graphic that says, “real talk.”

— Condescending Prick (@yomandudebro) August 12, 2021

I feel like there's about to be a lot of speech pathologists in the comments, rightly disagreeing with this bad take.

— Jared Jeffery (@Jk_Jeffery) August 12, 2021

Zero common sense. It’s tragic what our health institutions have become. First the CDC, now this – even adults benefit from seeing a full face. As someone hearing impaired masks have been a nightmare for me. Kids copy adults; they need to see mouths move. 🤦🏼‍♀️

— Alexandra Dumitru (@alexadventurous) August 12, 2021

This is the most disturbing thing I've read this month.

No studies to support this concern? Is that the measure we are accepting these days? https://t.co/rlSPTgDMaX

— Iron&Wine (@ironandwine11) August 12, 2021

The sound you're hearing is every speech therapist laughing in unison right now. https://t.co/hF3Xhd2ZdD

— S.L.M. Goldberg (@slmgoldberg) August 12, 2021

The professors, SLP colleagues and entire @NorthwesternU @NUspeechhearing community would beg to differ at this insane statement regarding mask research on verbal and nonverbal development. Shame on you @AmerAcadPeds .

— Lindsey Shifley (@lindseyshifley) August 12, 2021

You say:
"A key part of learning to communicate for a child is watching the faces, mouths, and expressions of the people closest to them."
You then say there are no studies showing that masks hinder that.
Are there studies that show that covering up mouths does NOT hinder that?

— Richard Ferchen (@sonarhack) August 12, 2021

This is am embarrassing and shameful post

— matthew rose (@matthewnk94) August 12, 2021

Little bit early to call that one, wouldn't you say?

— Bronze Age Futurist (@pumpegranate) August 12, 2021

https://t.co/n9bgRgrldw

— Thaïs Garcia (@ThaisConexao) August 12, 2021

Well you're citing a blog with no evidence of data or statistics, so it must be true I guess. https://t.co/MTQXD7KmD6

— Social Distance Champion (@realchrishynes) August 12, 2021

The ratio here is wonderful.

— I'm a decent carpenter for a guy with a doctorate (@drkellyhutson) August 12, 2021

You don’t have to be “anti-mask” to be concerned about the effects on young children, and this tweet does nothing to allay those concerns, unless you just take the AAP’s word for it.

Related:

American Academy of Pediatrics: Everyone over age 2 should wear masks when schools reopen in the fall, vaccinated or not https://t.co/D2g2COBlfe

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 19, 2021