言语迟缓孩子的“天使”

王晶

一对父母原以为他们的儿子言语迟缓是先天疾病导致的，结果因为一次偶然被一名医生发现是舌头打结导致的。这名医生通过做手术使得孩子可以正常说话，整个家庭都非常感激这名医生。除此之外，这名医生还希望所有的孩子在出生时都能得到强制性的检查，查看是否有这种情况存在。The Motz family of Katy， Texas， says their lives changed after a visit to the dentists office.

Mason Motz， 6， was at Dr Amy Luedemann⁃Lazars office to get teeth pulled when the pediatric dentist（儿科口腔医师） noticed a different issue. Mason had suffered from speech delays his whole life. He was born with Sotos Syndrome， a genetic disorder that affects growth and development. The family thought his speech delays were due to the disorder， but it turns out that he was tongue⁃tied. The condition caused limited range of motion with his mouth. “He wasnt able to enunciate（清楚地念） a word， so instead of saying， ‘Daddy， or， ‘Dad， he would say， ‘da...，” said Masons dad， Dalan Motz.

These days， life is totally different for the little boy. “Hes got a vocabulary now. Hes able to put together letters and words，” Motz said. The family is giving all the credit to Dr

Luedemann⁃Lazar， who specializes in treating patients with special needs and tongue?tied children.

A tongue⁃tie is a condition formed in the womb（子宫）， when the tongue doesnt separate completely from the bottom of the mouth. “It really drives the development of your face， nose and airways，” Dr Luedmann⁃Lazar said. Since birth， Mason had suffered from breathing and sleeping issues， which led to behavioral problems. When he ate， there were choking challenges. He also spent years in speech therapy.

“With the amount of pediatricians we went to， should have been caught. Geneticists， should have been caught. Neurologists， speech therapists，” Motz said.

Within hours of undergoing a minutes⁃long laser（激光器） procedure to correct the tongue⁃tie， Mason started talking in full sentences. In a home video recorded on his mothers cell phone， you can see and hear Mason reciting the events of his day and attending science class.

“We see every week people with a tongue⁃tie. Speech changes， even when they turn 30 or 40，” Dr Leudemann⁃Lazar said.

Masons parents say he is now very lively. “Theres nothing I can say thats enough， nothing I can do thats enough that explains my gratitude，” Motz said. Meredith and Dalan Motz say theyre eager to share their story so other families in a similar situation dont lose hope. They encourage parents to seek a second opinion， sometimes， third or fourth opinion.

Dr Leudemann⁃Lazar says she would like for it to be mandatory（强制的） that all babies at birth be thoroughly examined for this common condition.

Parents thought their sons speaking delay was due to the inborn 1. ， but it turns out that his tongue was 2. . The doctor made Mason talk in full sentences through 3. ， so the whole family were very 4. to the doctor. And Dr Leudemann⁃Lazar also hope all children can have a 5. check at birth for this common condition.

Difficult sentence

Theres nothing I can say thats enough， nothing I can do thats enough that explains my gratitude.