Boy with rare disease can finally speak well after 6 years he thought to be nonverbal

What a difference 10 minutes can make! A dentist made this 6 year-old boy speak with very short medical procedure.

Imagine not being able to speak? Our speech is perhaps, our main mode of communication. We use words, sentences, or phrases to express or communicate our emotions or thoughts. The inability to do this must be frustrating, and even demotivating, especially for a child.

For some persons all they need is a miracle, something that can make them speak. If they received only one moment in which they could say a sentence or two, it would be significant and even liberating.

It would seem that miracles can happen, as a very short procedure changed the fate of 6 year-old Mason Motz. He was visiting his dentist for a routine check up and received that and so much more. After a medical procedure lasting 10 seconds, Motz was able to use his words fluently.

His inability to speak was as a result of a brain aneurysm he received when he was only 10 days old. Mason’s doctors also believed that Sotos Syndrome, which he has, is also a contributing factor. Despite the many attempts by specialists to fix Mason’s speech, efforts proved futile.

Sotos Syndrome is a disorder which causes distinguished facial features, excessive growth in children, and a delay in the development of mental or kinetic abilities.

Mason’ mother, Meredith gave an account of her son’s disorder and the journey they have been on to change his condition.

“Nothing was really working. He had probably a five-word vocabulary, and we were looking at alternative means of communication.”

It’s clear that Mason was unable to be clear with his speech and as such this posed a challenge for Mason and his family.

Before the procedure Mason was only able to effectively communicate with his parents as they were the only ones who was equipped to comprehend his utterances.

“My husband and I were the only ones that could understand him.”

Dr. Amy Ludeman Lazar, is the dentist to be credited for the procedure that helped to improve Mason’s communication skills.

“When you’re in utero in your mom, you have webbed fingers and webbed toes, and when you’re developing your tongue is on the floor of your mouth. It separates similarly through the same process, and a tongue tie is simply an incomplete separation.”

While examining his mouth she made the observation that Mason’s tongue was attached to the base of his mouth. After receiving permission from his parents to perform a 10 second procedure to correct the tongue tie Mason was able to speak clearly. His parents were blown away.

“We took him home that evening, and then he started talking about, I’m hungry, I’m thirsty. Can we watch a movie? Like, blowing our minds with these full sentences for the first time, within seven or eight hours of coming home. It was shocking.”