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Michael Ejercito wrote:

HeartDoc Andrew, in the Holy Spirit, boldly wrote:

Michael Ejercito wrote:

HeartDoc Andrew, in the Holy Spirit, boldly wrote:

Michael Ejercito wrote:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LockdownSkepticism/comments/1f6fygf/how_did_the_pandemic_impact_babies_starting/


How did the pandemic impact babies starting school as children now?
1 day ago

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Vanessa Clarke
Education reporter
Fiona Young A baby in a blue sleepsuit is lying in a moses basket. Above >>>>> the basket his father's hand is holding an ipad and on the screen there >>>>> is a couple in a garden waving helloFiona Young
Baby Elijah, who was born in the strictest lockdown, met his
grandparents for the first time online
On 25 March 2020, Fiona and Ben Young drove to their local maternity >>>>> unit through London’s empty streets. When they arrived, security guards >>>>> sent them to the back entrance. It was day three of England's first
lockdown and the front was surrounded by patients being treated by
doctors in hazmat suits.
Two days later, after a long labour, they welcomed baby Elijah.
Delighted and exhausted, they left the hospital and headed home, full of >>>>> anticipation over their new life as parents.
But because of lockdown, it was far from what they expected.
"No-one was allowed to visit us for months - there were no newborn
cuddles with family," Fiona recalls.
"I had a number to ring if there was an emergency, which didn’t work. We >>>>> had no health visitor and no midwives. Our first visitor was a friend >>>>> who walked four hours across London to sit in our garden."
Elijah, now four and about to start school, is one of tens of thousands >>>>> of babies born during the Covid pandemic. He is also one of 200 children >>>>> being studied as a 'lockdown baby'.
The Bicycle (Born in Covid Year, Core Lockdown Effects) study, which >>>>> launched in July, is looking at whether the lockdowns had an impact on >>>>> children's talking and thinking skills.
Based at London's City University, it also involves five other English >>>>> universities.
A girl with curly hair is smiling at the camera in a light blue jumper >>>>> More than a third of the children going into reception at Elizabeth
Selby have speech and language needs
"Some children may have benefited from more time at home with their
parents and some children might have been negatively impacted," Prof >>>>> Lucy Henry of City University explains.
"They may be learning words more slowly or their fine motor skills may >>>>> possibly be behind.
"The real question is: who was affected and what can we do to support >>>>> them as they go into their school lives?"
Reduced interactions with family members and the loss of access to
services such as health visitors has had a serious impact on the speech >>>>> and language of some of these children, initial research by the
University of Leeds found at the end of 2023.
In Bethnal Green, London, twins Aqil and Fawaz were just eight weeks old >>>>> when the pandemic hit.
Their mother, Fahmeda Ahmed, lived in a second-floor flat with her
husband and their two older children - Hasan, four, and two-year-old >>>>> Khaijah.
"It was just the same day over and over again," she said. "We couldn't >>>>> go out, we couldn’t socialise, we couldn’t invite friends over and we >>>>> couldn't go anywhere with the kids."
A boy in a grey hat and a stripy navy jumper sits beside a lady in a >>>>> black and white dress and a black hijab. They are both holding an orange >>>>> pencil and writing. They are in a classroom sitting at a yellow table >>>>> with yellow seats and red blinds behind them
Fahmeda and her son Aqil had regular pre-school catch up sessions to >>>>> help him with his progress
Fahmeda bought an inflatable swimming pool for the balcony to try and >>>>> keep her older children entertained.
She attempted to homeschool her four-year-old, who had just started
reception, but he completely stopped talking.
And then there was baby Aqil. He was having difficulty swallowing and >>>>> Fahmeda tried for months to get a face-to-face appointment with a doctor. >>>>> Eventually, at three months, he was diagnosed with tracheomalacia, a >>>>> condition where the walls of a child’s windpipe collapse. He needed a >>>>> minor operation.
Check out BBC Tiny Happy People's pages on language development for
three- to four- and four- to five-year-olds
Covid inquiry investigates impact on children
Child speech delays increase following lockdowns
How will museums of tomorrow tell the Covid story?
“I was so scared going into the hospital because you would hear stories >>>>> that you would catch [Covid]," Fahmeda said.
"And I remember when Aqil was going into theatre, I was so upset. There >>>>> was a nurse there and she said ‘I'm so sorry. I can't hug you’."
Four years on, Aqil and Fawaz are healthy young boys, about to start >>>>> reception at Elizabeth Selby Infants' School in Bethnal Green.
But they both have speech and language needs.
Their two-year child development check was delayed, they weren't able to >>>>> attend any baby classes and their first year involved very little
interaction with the outside world.
Fahmeda believes all these factors have had a lasting effect, and
experts agree.
"Children need opportunities to go out into the world and have new
experiences and with those new experiences come new words - but that is >>>>> happening less during the cost-of-living crisis and it happened less >>>>> during the pandemic," says Jane Harris, head of children's charity
Speech and Language UK.
A teacher with brown hair holds up a large book to a class of
pre-schoolers sitting on a colourful mat with a bug pattern, listening >>>>> to the story. Many are sitting with their legs crossed with their hands >>>>> together.
The school has employed a speech and language therapist for its
pre-schoolers for the first time
Prof Catherine Davies, from the University of Leeds, who is also
involved in the study, says many of the safety nets for families like >>>>> Fahmeda's were taken away during the pandemic.
“The education systems weren't there, health and medical support was not >>>>> there, their interaction with their wider social networks wasn't there," >>>>> she said.
One third of pre-schoolers (34%) at Elizabeth Selby had speech and
language needs during the last school year - up from a quarter (25%) in >>>>> 2020, according to the school.
This year, the school has had to employ a speech and language therapist >>>>> for its pre-school class for the first time.
In June, 22,952 children were waiting 19 to 52 weeks for a speech and >>>>> language therapy appointment, and 5,832 children were waiting over a >>>>> year, according to NHS England.
The Department for Education in England says it will be focusing on high >>>>> quality early education and is continuing the Nuffield Early Language >>>>> Intervention programme for another year.
“If I could, I'd have a speech and language teacher in five days a week >>>>> - and I would still have a waiting list," says Shahi Ahmed, head teacher >>>>> at Elizabeth Selby.
"But I have to think about the budget and how that impacts the school." >>>>> Mr Ahmed says there is a "massive increase" in the number of children >>>>> needing help with toilet training, which takes teachers away from
teaching. The school is now bringing in outside agencies to help support >>>>> parents.
And among all of this, attendance is falling, which Mr Ahmed says is >>>>> important as it sets "routine and expectations".
A man with brown hair and a beige shirt sits at a table smiling at a >>>>> young girl with curly hair and a leopard body warmer and beige woollen >>>>> cardigan. She is playing a blue drum and smiling back.
Lots of families haven't had health visitors or access to GP appointments >>>>> Mr Ahmed believes the increase in children needing more help is
"absolutely" a direct result of the pandemic.
"They didn’t have the chance to interact with other children or even >>>>> just go out or have visitors to the house," he says.
"They've been limited to what's around them - and that has caused a gap >>>>> in their social interaction skills."
Thankfully, Fahmeda says her twin boys have already benefited from their >>>>> time in Elizabeth Selby's pre-school classes.
"Fawaz has changed completely - he never used to call me mum," she says, >>>>> wiping her tears away.
"It's so nice to hear. You might think I'm being silly, but that’s so >>>>> amazing and it’s because of the teachers."
As for Elijah, his first interactions with family members were all on Zoom.
"We would hold up the iPad to his face and introduce him but he wasn’t >>>>> really paying much attention," Fiona said.
"I think he saw the lights and colour but I don’t think he understood he >>>>> was meeting humans."
He didn't attend any baby classes as they had all been cancelled. "He >>>>> spent the first three months solely with us," she said.
Elijah was diagnosed with tongue tie when he was born. Fiona and Ben >>>>> were told by a midwife that they would be better off getting tongue-tie >>>>> surgery, also known as a lingual frenotomy, privately, as there would be >>>>> a long wait on the NHS.
"The first day I came back from hospital I was phoning around
frantically to find someone who could do it privately but no-one was >>>>> allowed to physically come in - it wasn’t legal for them to come in and >>>>> do the operation," Fiona explained.
Elijah finally had the operation when he was two-months-old.
Katie Monnelly A young girl in a yellow dress and hairband is sitting on >>>>> a couch and over her shoulder we can see a pink ipad with a game with >>>>> two grey squares. Her hand is ready to touch the game. Katie Monnelly >>>>> Over the next year, the Bicycle project will be using interactive games >>>>> to study children born during the strictest lockdown
The long-term impact of Elijah's early years remain to be seen but it >>>>> was certainly a "tricky" time for his parents.
Two years after Elijah's birth, Fiona and Ben were back in the same
maternity room, welcoming a baby girl.
“It was a completely different experience, both in the hospital and
after," Fiona said.
"My mum saw Amelia within 12 hours and was giving her newborn cuddles." >>>>> The couple volunteered to take part in the Bicycle study because they >>>>> want to help researchers understand exactly how the lockdowns affected >>>>> the youngest members of society.
It's hoped the results will help answer one pressing question - if it >>>>> happens again, what should we do differently?

In the interim, we are 100% prepared/protected in the "full armor of
GOD" (Ephesians 6:11) which we put on as soon as we use Apostle Paul's >>>> secret (Philippians 4:12). Though masking is less protective, it helps >>>> us avoid the appearance of doing the evil of spreading airborne
pathogens while there are people getting sick because of not being
100% protected. It is written that we're to "abstain from **all**
appearance of doing evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:22 w/**emphasis**).

Meanwhile, the only *perfect* (Matt 5:47-8 ) way to eradicate the
COVID-19 virus, thereby saving lives, in the UK & elsewhere is by
rapidly (i.e. use the "Rapid COVID-19 Test" ) finding out at any given >>>> moment, including even while on-line, who among us are unwittingly
contagious (i.e pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic) in order to
"convince it forward" (John 15:12) for them to call their doctor and
self-quarantine per their doctor in hopes of stopping this pandemic.
Thus, we're hoping for the best while preparing for the worse-case
scenario of the Alpha lineage mutations and others like the Omicron,
Gamma, Beta, Epsilon, Iota, Lambda, Mu & Delta lineage mutations
combining via slip-RNA-replication to form hybrids like "Deltamicron"
that may render current COVID vaccines/monoclonals/medicines/pills no
longer effective.

Indeed, I am wonderfully hungry (
https://groups.google.com/g/sci.med.cardiology/c/6ZoE95d-VKc/m/14vVZoyOBgAJ
) and hope you, Michael, also have a healthy appetite too.

So how are you ?

I am wonderfully hungry!

While wonderfully hungry in the Holy Spirit, Who causes (Deuteronomy
8:3) us to hunger, I note that you, Michael, are rapture ready (Luke
17:37 means no COVID just as eagles circling over their food have no
COVID) and pray (2 Chronicles 7:14) that our Everlasting (Isaiah 9:6)
Father in Heaven continues to give us "much more" (Luke 11:13) Holy
Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) so that we'd have much more of His Help to
always say/write that we're "wonderfully hungry" in **all** ways
including especially caring to "convince it forward" (John 15:12) with
all glory (Psalm112:1) to GOD (aka HaShem, Elohim, Abba, DEO), in
the name (John 16:23) of LORD Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.

Laus DEO !

Thank you for noting that I have no COVID.

Just please do likewise as our LORD Jesus & I have done for you,
Michael, and http://go.WDJW.net/ConvinceItForward (John 15:12) to be https://bit.ly/Wonderfully_Hungrier more blessed by GOD right now
(Luke 6:21a).

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