[Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Speech Therapy for Children with Speech and Language Disorders]

Objective:  In December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread around the world and caused massive restrictions in our daily life. Many educational facilities and practices delivering speech therapy were temporally closed (so-called lockdown). Children with a speech and language disorder were forced to pause their therapy. The aim of this study was to describe if and how speech therapy was delivered during lockdown and what psychological burden was associated to affected parents.

Material And Methods:  Parents of children with a speech and language disorder were asked about their child´s therapy during lockdown and about their fears and worries associated with it.

Results:  For 17 patients speech therapy was paused during lockdown while 20 patients could continue their therapy. Children speaking a language other than German had a higher risk for having their therapy paused during lockdown (Odds ratio = 5.11, with 95 % confidence interval = 1.09-32.54). Parents whose children did not receive speech therapy during lockdown were more worried about their child's development.

Conclusions:  There is no common concept on how speech therapy can be delivered safely during lockdown. Possible barriers to healthcare might be more pronounced during the pandemic and parents experience a high psychosocial burden.